


mountains upon mountains

by honeyvee



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Bad Parents, Bullying, But mostly angst, Eren has a bad past too, Eren has anger issues in this, Eventual Smut, F/M, False Accusations, Fluff, Jealousy, Love/Hate, Mentions of Suicide, Mentions of incest, Reader has an oc brother, Siblings, Snowboarding, The reader has a bad past, a universe where jean and eren actually like each other???, levi is lowkey a therapist sometimes tho, reader is stubborn asf, slight porco slander even tho i love him
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-11
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-15 10:22:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 37,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28687053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/honeyvee/pseuds/honeyvee
Summary: It’s your fourth year at the Paradis Ski Resort, trying to escape the pains of your past by working as part of the terrain park crew. You believe that things are finally starting to piece themselves back together, but everything changes when an old rival enters back into your life.
Relationships: Armin Arlert/Reader, Eren Yeager & Reader, Eren Yeager/Reader, Mikasa Ackerman/Jean Kirstein, Porco Galliard/Pieck
Comments: 97
Kudos: 172





	1. foul play

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! I'm really excited to get this fic started. I've worked at a ski hill in the past, and I absolutely love both snowboarding and Eren, so I thought that I would try and make something work. This series will mostly be a lot of angst because it's what I live for, but I also just want to explore the ski hill environment, and hopefully build some good relationships between characters.  
> I'll probably update every two/three weeks because I'm very busy with school and work, but it may be longer depending on time/motivation! Keep in mind, this is also my first fic ever on ao3, so I'm still getting the hang of this.  
> Thank you for reading!

**Two and a half years ago.**

Sasha let out a groan. “He’s the worst teacher we’ve ever had!”  
  
You exchanged a look with Connie over the top of your computer. You could see he was trying to bite back his laughter but he was failing miserably, eyes dampening as he struggled.  
  
“What?” Sasha asked, pausing in the middle of her rant. “What’s so funny?”  
  
“Nothing!” Connie assured, pinching his lips together firmly to try and suppress his smile.  
  
“Oh my God, what is it?” Sasha asked, turning to you with panic. “Y/N?”  
  
“No no,” you said, holding up your hands in defense. “By all means, keep going.”

Sasha glanced behind her, making sure that no one else had overheard her venting. There was only one other group in the lounge, some freshmen working on a science project, but they didn’t appear interested in your conversation.

“I don’t get what’s so funny,” she said, crossing her arms as she leaned back in her chair.  
  
“You really wanna know?” Connie asked, brows raising. Sasha nodded vigorously, and the grey haired boy sighed. “Shadis said that next time you complain about his teaching, we’re allowed to make you do our homework.”  
  
Sasha’s jaw dropped, and she slammed her hands down on the table. “No fair. Nuh-uh.” She whipped her head around. “Where’s that bastard-”  
  
“You should be a little more careful,” you chuckled, turning back to your laptop screen. “He’s always watching.”  
  
“He is not!”

Connie whistled. “Oh he sure is, alright.”

You started back on your essay, revising and editing up the finishing touches. Connie did as well, but Sasha continued to glare daggers towards the hallway. You could hear the chatter of a few girls as they fiddled with their lockers, and one of them asked about a thrifting haul.  
  
“It’s Christa,” Sasha muttered, finally turning back to her work. “And Ymir.”  
  
Connie snorted. “Are Ymir and her back together? Or is she with Eren?”  
  
“God if I know,” Sasha said, propping her elbows up on the table and sighing. 

“He’s probably getting top in the bathrooms,” Connie mumbled.  
  
“First of all, you’re disgusting,” you said, giving him a look. “And second-”  
  
“Oh shit,” Sasha said, looking down at her textbook. She flipped through a few pages, eyes scanning the words as she frowned. “Is that assignment on page 227 due tomorrow?”

“It was due at the beginning of class,” you said, and Connie sucked in a sharp breath.  
  
“It was?”  
  
“Oh no,” you said, covering your mouth with your palm. “You didn’t do it?”  
  
“I didn’t know we had to,” Connie said, a look of panic crossing his face as his eyes darted between you and Sasha.  
  
“Shit,” Sasha cursed, pushing away from the table. “I need to get my other notebook.”  
  
“From your locker?” Connie asked, standing up. “Because same.”  
  
“You guys,” you groaned, shoulders sagging. “Don’t leave me here.”  
  
“It’ll be five minutes!” Sasha affirmed, already backing away from the table. Connie gave you a pained smile before he walked off after her, and then the duo disappeared down the hallway. But of course, just as you thought you were safe to work in peace, you spotted a familiar face jogging to catch up with Christa and Ymir. He slung his arms around both their shoulders, and Christa leaned into him while Ymir shoved him off. Smirking, he watched as the brown haired girl stormed away, his green eyes glinting with mockery.  
  
“Aw, c’mon Ymir,” Eren razzed, squeezing Christa’s shoulder. “I’m just sayin’ hey.” 

It seemed as if you could never get away from him. No matter how hard you tried, he was always in the room over, or down the hall, or getting in your fucking way. He was everywhere, and he was always boasting about some achievement he had made in baseball, or the plans he had for the weekend. Just the week before he had gotten all up in your face about grades, poking and prodding to see your marks in chemistry and biology. You wanted to tell him, to rub it in that you had all nineties, but you just kept your mouth shut, letting him mope and whine. He was incredibly irritating, and you tried not to glare at his figure as he crossed the lounge. He whispered something in Christa’s ear, then laughed as his gaze passed through the room. He did a double-take when he spotted you, face lighting up, and you looked away. 

“ _Fuck_ ,” you whispered, punching the keys of your computer quickly. Why did Connie and Sasha have to go right then?

“Y/N!” Eren called, jogging over to where you sat. He dropped down into the seat across from you, the one that Connie had been at not a minute prior.  
  
“Eren,” you said flatly, barely glancing at him from over the top of your screen. His fingers danced over the tabletop, and you could see him flitting through Connie’s notes. He had no understanding of personal space, and you were sure that Connie would’ve been upset to have someone flipping through his work. Well, if Eren was even able to read Connie’s handwriting. 

“Whatcha doing?” Eren asked, tugging on the collar of his jean jacket. When you didn’t reply, he kicked you lightly under the table, forcing you to look up at him. 

“What?” You asked, letting out a heavy sigh. It was no secret that you didn’t like him. Hell, you had admitted it to him more than once, and yet he still had the nerve to approach you. 

“I asked what you were doing,” he said.  
  
“What does it look like?” You answered, gesturing to the work around you. “Assignments. Projects. Homework.”  
  
His brows raised. “Of course.”

“I’m really busy right now Eren.”

“S’okay,” he said, shrugging. “I’ve got nothing to do. It’s my spare block.”  
  
“Eren,” you huffed. “That’s my way of telling you to fuck off.”  
  
He laughed, running his fingers through his hair. It was getting considerably longer, almost brushing his shoulders. Apparently Christa liked it, and like a game of fucking Simon Says, he did what he was told, which was rare because he tended to be the one to command people around.    
  


“I’ll hang around for a little bit.”  
  
“I said I’m busy.”  
  
“Let me see your project.”  
  
“I don’t think so. Why don’t you head back over to your girlfriend?” You narrowed your eyes at him. “Or whoever the hell else you have to bother.”  
  
He gave you a lazy grin, head tilting as he licked his lips. “Whatever you say, Y/N.”

***

**Present time.  
  
**

“Ah dammit,” Porco muttered, slipping his phone back into his pocket. He zipped it up quickly, giving you a look of dismay, even through his tinted goggles and thick mask. 

“What now?” You asked, kicking your board against the ground to clear it of snow. 

“Colt got caught up with something down at the Maria park.” Porco shook his head, and although you couldn’t see his eyes, you could tell he was rolling them just from the tone of his voice. “Looks like it’s just us again.”

You sighed, letting out a short laugh. “Typical Colt. Reiner probably held him up.”  
  
Porco snorted. “Probably.” 

You unclipped your left boot, flipping your board upside down so that it wouldn’t slide away, and then you headed over to the supply shed. Colt had been grooming the West parks with Reiner all morning, but he still agreed to help you and Porco for the afternoon. You two didn’t really need the assistance, but he was always good company, so you let him tag along. Plus, he didn’t mind dragging around the biggest shovel, which was something both you and Porco hated. It weighed so fucking much, and you always felt like you were going to drop it off the lift. 

“Get the rake with the green band!” Porco called from outside. “It’ll be the best one for the rails!”  
  
“Yeah yeah!” You shouted back, rolling your eyes as you moved around the shed, fumbling with the different tools. You ended up settling on the rake and two smaller shovels, and then you quickly signed them out before tossing the green tool to Porco. He caught it with a gloved hand, tipping his head in thanks. 

You clipped your left foot back into your board, then started towards the Trost lift, Porco following closely behind. It was a nice day for boarding, a clear day, and the hill was fairly busy. People weaved between each other as they raced down the slopes, fresh snow spraying up in their tracks. If you got off early, going up to Mount Shiganshina for a few runs would’ve been the ideal end to your day, but the park had been used heavily throughout the morning, so it required a bit more grooming than other days. At least you were at the hill. You got paid to do one of the things you loved most, and you wouldn’t have had it any other way. Oh the joys of being part of Paradis Resort’s terrain park crew. 

“Ayo!” Jean, your favourite lift attendant, called as you slid out onto the loading platform. He threw a small pile of snow down in front of you, patting the shovel against the ground. 

“Hey man,” Porco said, smacking Jean’s gloved palm.  
  
Jean grinned. “Just getting started, eh?” 

“Yeah,” you answered, gesturing to the two shovels, which you clutched tightly in your right hand. “When do you get off?”  
  
The chair spun around, and you sat down, raising your board to prevent it from dragging along the platform.  
  
“Four!” Jean called back as the chair whisked you away. Porco lowered the overhead bar, and you sunk back into your seat. Although the weather was nice, the wind was always strong on the chair, and a shiver crawled up your spine. 

“I think some of the signs by the park entrance are down,” Porco said, twisting his body to peer down at the park below you. You watched as two skiers entered through the gates, pausing briefly at the top before heading for one of the rails. 

“We’ll get ‘em,” you answered, watching the first skier slide along the rail. He dropped off smoothly, giving his other friend a cheer of motivation to try it out.  
  
“Falco came up the other day,” you said, kicking some excess snow off your board.  
  
“Did he?”  
  
“Yeah, nearly got Colt fired though.” You laughed. “Apparently he said some shit about Levi like, right in front of the office.”  
  
“Oh fuck,” Porco muttered. “What was he even doing up by the offices?”  
  
“Looking for Colt I guess.” You shrugged. “The kid means well.”  
  
Porco snorted. Falco often came up with Gabi to ski and snoop around the lodge. Colt always shooed him away when he was caught wandering around upstairs in the main office area. Levi was a man of cleanliness, and he hated it when people wandered around in areas that very clearly stated “staff only”. You liked his company though. In a way, he reminded you of yourself.

“Bar,” Porco said, raising the metal rod above your head as you neared the platform at the top of the hill. You didn’t recognize the lifty, but Jean had said earlier that Levi had hired someone else to take Marlow’s position while he was in the Bahamas. You would introduce yourself later if you had the chance. 

“Okay,” you muttered, gripping the shovels tightly as you slid off of the chair with ease. Porco led the way, his board gliding effortlessly over the snow as the two of you made your way over to the park. It was up to the right of the Trost lift, so there was no need to strap in your boards; it was just a short walk over. 

“I’ll grab the signs!” Porco called, voice slightly muffled from his thick black balaclava. He flipped over his board, then propped the rake up against it. 

“I’ll start the boxes!” You yelled back, sliding down to the first box. You laid your board a few feet away from the jump, letting riders know that you were going to be working on it, and then you picked the larger one of the two shovels. The snow ramp had been worn down over the morning, and you flattened out the top, preparing it for touch-ups. You then made your way to the side of the park, where a large pile of snow sat, waiting to be scooped up and dropped onto the ramps. You patted it out with the blade, then grabbed the rake, evening out the clumps.  
  
A guy with a hot pink jacket sped through the gates of the park, and he grinned at you as he passed, barely slowing down to hop up onto one of the longer rails. You let out a whoop as he hit the ground at the end, speeding towards the next trick box. People continued to come and go, filtering through the park as you worked, slowly making your way to each feature. At one point a girl with a red jacket did a 360 off of one of the boxes by Porco, and he gave her a cheer, then joined you at your third rail, huffing and puffing like he had just run a marathon.  
  
“Tough work or something?” You asked, poking the end of the shovel at his legs. He let out a groan, unclipping his helmet and pulling down his balaclava.  
  
“Those fucking signs,” he cursed, shaking his head as he reached for a shovel. You handed one too him, and he took it sharply. “There’s no way that anyone is actually hitting them. They were on black diamonds too. It’s gotta be on purpose.”  
  
“C’mon, people crash on blacks all the time.”  
  
“Yeah but still.”  
  
“You shouldn’t really be talking.” Your knees cracked as you crouched, inspecting the underside of the rail. “You said the other day that you wanted to stick to blues.”  
  
“I did not!” Porco defended. “I literally didn’t say that.”  
  
“Porky, you did.”  
  
“God I hate it when you call me that, you know.”  
  
“I know.” You gave him a look. “Why do you think I do it?”  
  
His lips pressed together in a firm line, chest heaving beneath his thick coat. “Very funny. Are you in a bad mood today?”  
  
“Am I in a bad mood? Why don’t you check yourself before asking that,” you teased, poking him with the blade of your shovel once more.  
  
“Answer the damn question.”  
  
“So demanding.” 

Porco shook his head. 

You worked together until three, and then at 3:15 you set off to scale Trost hill, looking for fallen signs or twisted fences; anything that would get in the way of the riders. You started with the easiest runs, the greens, and then made your way to the blues, then finally the blacks. Trost hill didn’t have any double blacks, let alone triples, and so it was fairly easy to make your way down. That was, until you came barreling around a corner, ready to hit one of the manmade jumps. Someone came flying through the trees from the opposite end, and by the time you had realized exactly the direction they were headed, it was too late. 

You collided mid air, his board smacking against your own as you desperately tried to maneuver in the other direction. He hit the ground first and you fell not half a second later, sliding a few feet down the side of the hill, too stunned to stop yourself. A prickly sensation took over your body, and you could feel the heavy weight of your limbs against the snow. You had pinched your eyes shut upon impact, but you opened them when you heard a distinct groan of pain coming from your right.  
  
“Mother _ fucker _ ,” the guy cursed quietly.  
  
It took you a moment to sit up, accessing yourself for injury, but everything moved fine. No broken bones. Your back was already beginning to ache, but that wasn’t your biggest concern. You then turned to the person you had hit, undoing your bindings and rushing to their side.  
  
“Oh my god,” you whispered, dropping to your knees. The guy was on his back, one hand on his chest and the other resting above his head. “I’m so sorry. That was entirely my fault.”

You should’ve been paying better attention. You were well aware that the merging trails both had blind spots, but you had still risked the jump, and paid the price. It was hard to tell if someone would be coming from the other side because it was a steep mound, and you knew better than to go for it, especially while on the job.  
  
“It’s fine,” the guy mumbled, letting out a shaky sigh. He took the hand off his chest, slowly sitting up, and you hovered your hands over his shoulder, unsure of his own injuries.  
  
“Are you hurt? Do you want me to call ski patrol?” You asked, an urgency in your tone. Judging by the sound of the guy’s voice, he didn’t seem to be that old, maybe twenties or thirties, but it was hard to tell. You just hoped he wasn’t hurt.  
  
“No,” he said, reaching up to touch his helmet, then his goggles. “It happens.”  
  
It didn’t sound like he was in pain.  
  
“I’m so sorry,” you repeated, pulling off your goggles and placing them atop your helmet. “Are you sure you’re not hurt?”  
  
The guy twisted his wrists, then rolled his neck. “Seems fine, s’okay.” He drew his knees closer to his chest to inspect his board. “Ah shit.”  
  
You felt the back of your neck get warm as he took his boot out of the binding, which had very clearly gotten battered in the fall. Boards didn’t break easily, so it just made you feel a hell of a lot worse. God, if Levi found out… you would be absolutely fucked. He hated it when employees ruined equipment, let alone the equipment of other riders. 

“Don’t worry,” the guy said before you could speak. “The bolt was loose anyway. I was going to tighten it last time but I forgot.” 

You winced. It was still your doing, but luckily you had brought your supply bag with you.  
  
“Here,” you said, shouldering your pack and yanking off your gloves.  
  
“It’s fine,” he assured, holding up his hands. “I’ll repair it at the bottom.”  
  
“Nono,” you argued, pulling out the little white box that held extra tools. Each park crew backpack had one just in case there was a mishap on the hill. You gestured for him to pass his board, but he shook his head yet again. Fucking stubborn. 

“It’s the least I can do,” you said.  
  
You couldn’t see his eyes behind the tinted goggles, but you could feel his gaze. He seemed to notice your attire just then: decked out in all black except for the little Paradis logo on the breast of your jacket, and then the neon green letters on the back which read  **PRDS PARK CREW** . You thought the uniform looked pretty neat; nice and slick, and it was one of the many reasons you loved working terrain. 

“You work here?” He asked, and you nodded, feeling yet another wave of embarrassment.  
  
“Yeah, which makes me really feel like shit,” you admitted, dropping your eyes to the board in front of you. It was brown and black, much like his snow gear, and had a small white sticker on the front. “So it’s the least I can do.”  
  
He sighed. “Alright.”

You took the board from him, feeling your guilt beginning to pit. You weren’t normally one to fuck shit up, but yet there you were, making a fool out of yourself in front of a stranger. Porco was never going to let you live that one down. 

You began to inspect the board. The little screws that kept the left ankle strap had come off, making it extremely dangerous to ride in. A broken ankle strap wasn’t going to keep a boot stuck to the board, but at least that was the only damage dealt.  
  
“Are you from around here, or just visiting?” You asked, trying to get at least some form of conversation going. You didn’t want to leave him on a bad note, it would’ve reflected poorly on you. Plus, if he was injured in any way and not showing it, talking would help distract him. As for yourself, your head hurt a little, but it was nothing serious. You would manage.  
  
“I live in Marley,” he answered. “So I guess I’m from around here. Twenty minute drive.”  
  
He was a local. Marley was the closest town to the ski hill, and it happened to be where you, Pieck and Annie had your apartment. Good God, that just made things worse for you. It meant that you would most likely see him again, whether it be in town or on the hill. 

“And have you been snowboarding a while?” You continued, fiddling with the strap. You had a screw that should’ve been able to fit. Otherwise you would have to send him down to the repair shop by the lodge, but there was no way in hell that you were going to have Porco or Reiner witness that. Or worse, Levi.

He took a while to answer. “Nah, not really honestly. Got into it a few years ago but I’ve been out a lot lately.”  
  
“Well that’s good.” You let out a sigh of relief when the screw fit the strap. “Ever skied before?”  
  
“Nah.” He paused. “You?”  
  
“Nope,” you replied, tightening the screw. “Tried once when I was younger and it was a disaster.”  
  
He let out a chuckle, tipping his head in agreeance. “Fair enough.”  
  
“Almost done,” you whispered, pushing your helmet up with the back of your hand. In your peripheral vision you could see the guy raise his goggles. “Okay, that should be-” You met his eyes, and instantly went rigid. You knew those fucking eyes. You had seen them a million times before, and you had hoped to never see them again. Blue-green and bottomless, peering at you with confusion and curiosity.  
  
It couldn’t be. There was no way. He had moved out of Marley when he was seventeen. Left with his mom to live in some house in the countryside. There was no way. There was no fucking way.  
  
“Something wrong?” He asked, and you couldn’t believe that you hadn’t recognized his voice before. Sure, it had gotten deeper, and it was muffled by his balaclava, but it was the same as it had been two years ago, almost three.  
  
“Eren?” You asked, your fingers pulling away from his board. It felt strange to say his name, and deep in your stomach you felt the beginnings of a knot. A knot of nerves, and of anger. 

He tipped his head at you, squinting those fucking eyes with skeptisism. “Sorry, do I know you?”

You pulled your helmet off entirely, and his face was blank for only a split second before the recognition passed, washing over his features like rain. 

“Oh my God, Y/N?” 

Your name sounded wrong coming from his lips. It sounded foul to you, and you crinkled your brows, shaking your head slightly with disbelief.

“What are you doing here?” You asked quietly. What happened to the rural house? He should’ve stayed in the countryside, where he wouldn’t be a nuisance to you. You were able to live in peace during the days that he was gone. You were able to breathe.  
  
“Is there a problem?” Eren laughed, looking between you and his board. “I didn’t like the boonies as much as I thought I would.”

“You’re joking,” you whispered, still just as tense as before. His very presence made you feel stiff, as if you were frozen on the spot.    
“I’m not.” He shrugged. “Since when did you start working here Y/N?”  
  
What were the odds? All of the people in the world to crash into on some Sunday afternoon, and it had to be Eren Yeager, the guy you hated most in all of high school. You loathed him; every little thing about him. Cocky, selfish, arrogant. Angry. Always fucking angry, and he took it out on whoever was in his way. You were shocked that he hadn’t slaughtered you for causing an accident, but as that thought stuck your mind, you reevaluated. No, the crash was suddenly his fault. He was the one not paying attention.    
“Look,” you said, standing up and making your way back over to your board. “I’ve got to get back to work.”  
  
“Aw,” he said, a playful tone taking over his voice. That was the same tone he used in school to talk to teachers, or flirt with girls, or push his buddies around. He didn’t care. “C’mon Y/N, not even going to answer my question?”  
  
You strapped in quickly, yanking on your backpack and hating yourself for not recognizing him sooner. The voice was so obvious.  
  
“If you need any more help, you can get it at the lodge,” you said, pulling your helmet back on properly, followed by your goggles. Eren got to his feet, holding up his hands in protest, but you ignored him, instead flying down the hill. Although you were alert for other snowboarders and skiers you mainly just focussed on getting to the bottom as fast as you could. Surely Porco would be looking for you; the shift was almost over. 

You reached the bottom in record breaking time, instantly clipping out of your board and hoisting it up under one arm. You rushed towards the lodge, only to have Porco stop you by the board racks, looking rather unamused. 

“Where have you been?” 

“You’re never going to believe who I just saw,” you said, shoving your snowboard in the slot before storming through the lodge doors. You weaved your way through the crowds of skiers and boarders finishing up their late lunch, and towards the staircase at the back of the cafeteria. It was marked off with a large STAFF ONLY sign, but you brushed past it, skipping up the steps two at a time.  
  
“Jeez Y/N!” Porco called. “Care to slow down for a second?”

The upstairs area was mostly just for offices and supplies, but the front portion was one big lounge for the staff, and a few heads turned as you made your entrance.    
“Where’s Pieck?” You asked, eyes scanning the room for the girl’s familiar face, but you were met with no response. By the fireplace on the far wall you could see Hitch and Marlow chatting as they folded up their uniforms, and Hitch waved as she met your eye.  
  
“Are you going to keep acting mysterious or tell me what the fuck is going on?” Porco asked, rapping his knuckles on your helmet. “I also put the tools away, so that’s covered.”   
“Thanks Porky,” you said, unzipping your coat. “But I really need to find Pieck right now.”  
  
Someone cleared their throat behind you. “What’s so important about Pieck?”  
  
“Ah!” You spun around, face lighting up as you found your culprit. She gave you a warm smile as she pulled off her helmet, letting her long hair fall across her shoulders and back. “I’ve gotta tell you something.”  
  
“Oh no,” she said, eyebrows raising. “Not bad news, I hope.”  
  
“Sorry to disappoint,” you said, and she pursed her lips, glancing over at Porco, who had crossed his arms over his chest impatiently. 

“What did Porco do this time?” She asked, and the man let out a snort.

“I didn’t do shit.” 

“Mhm,” Pieck hummed, taking a seat on one of the large brown couches. She began to undo her boots, and you sunk down beside her. 

“You remember that guy from my high school? Eren?” 

Pieck paused, fingers hovering over the laces. “The one you didn’t like?” 

“Uh huh.” 

“I remember him, why?”

“I just fucking saw the bastard.” 

Pieck looked up at you with shock, hair falling into her eyes. “You what?” 

“Who?” Porco asked. 

“Yes!” You exclaimed with disbelief, brows drawing together as you frowned. “He’s here, back in town.” 

“In Marley?” Pieck asked, tugging off one boot. 

“Who’s back in town?” Colt and Reiner had finished up their own park grooming, and Reiner sunk down on the couch across from you and Pieck, letting out a sigh. “Who?” He repeated. 

“Some guy I used to go to high school with. A real douchebag.” 

“Of course you answer him and not me,” Porco muttered, uncrossing his arms and rolling his eyes. 

“Bigger of a douche than Porco?” Reiner questioned, and the accused let out a scoff. 

“Leave me out of this, the fuck?” He shook his head, stepping away from the couches to strip down his winter gear. 

“Anyways,” Pieck said, taking off the other snowboard boot.

“Your feet stink Pieck!” 

“Shut up Porco. Y/N, continue.” 

You laughed even though you were frustrated only moments before. The dynamic between you, Porco, Pieck and Reiner was probably the best you had ever experienced. You hadn’t ever known friends like them before, and you were thankful that you had gotten to meet them. Thankful that in moments of weakness they were always there to make you laugh, because right then you needed it. 

“Eren,” you said. “Eren Yeager. I went to school with him for over ten years. Right up until the end of eleventh grade.”

“Why are you so dramatic?” Porco asked, pulling on a bomber jacket in replacement of his uniform one. 

“It’s for the suspense.” Reiner gestured for you to keep speaking, and Colt nodded. “You can’t ruin the moment.” 

“So Eren,” you said, restarting your sentence for what seemed like the millionth time. You gave Porco a glare for that, and he held up his hands in confusion. “I just saw him on the hill. And he had problems with his board so I tried to help him, but I didn’t know it was him until he took off his goggles.”  
  
“Oh shit,” Colt muttered.  
  
“Do you still…” Pieck frowned. “Still dislike him?”  
  
You leaned back against the couch, head dropping to stare at the wooden beams above you. It was complicated. Throughout all of your life the two of you never got along. He was so damn competitive all the time, always trying to upstage everyone else in any way that he could. And although he was an absolute ass, people ate that shit up. Girls swooned around him, and all the guys wanted to be in his close circle. You and your friends just couldn’t believe it; couldn’t believe that people actually thought he was “cool”. It was absolute bullshit, and it all came to a head in the spring of eleventh grade, when he made a foul accusation against you and your brother. Bickering, comparing grades and competing in sports was nothing compared to the allegation that he made, and it broke you down. He had no right to say anything about your at-home life. He had no idea what was going on, or what you and your brother were dealing with, and the rumour spread through the school like wildfire. You still hated him for it.

“Yes,” you answered firmly, jaw tightening at the thought of your teenage years.  
  
Pieck shook her head. “Oh Y/N, I’m sorry.”  
  
“Sorry?” Porco asked. “Why are you sorry?” He gave Reiner and Colt an irritated glance. “God, I’ll never understand you two.”

“You never understand anything, to be fair,” Reiner commented, earning yet another scoff from Porco.  
  
“I’m clocking out. This is bullshit.”  
  
“Just because he’s here at the hill doesn’t mean that he has a season pass or anything,” Pieck said, ignoring the fact that Porco had just stormed out of the lounge. “Maybe he’s just here for the day.”  
  
“It doesn’t worry me,” you remarked, “it’s just… weird? I don’t know.”  
  
“You’re not normally one to hold a grudge,” Colt pointed out, pulling a black crewneck over his head.  
  
“That proves my point,” you said.  
  
“Which is?”  
  
“That he’s messed up.”  
  
Reiner sighed. “Weren’t you lecturing me about forgiveness the other day?”

You crossed your arms, glancing towards Levi’s office. You could see shadows moving beneath the door, so you assumed he was on the phone. He always paced when he talked on call. 

“This is different,” you said.  
  
Pieck studied you, then leaned over to wrap one arm around your shoulder. She squeezed it lightly, and you dropped your head on hers, breathing in the smell of her lavender shampoo. “Don’t worry,” she said. “If he tries anything stupid, we’ll have him taken care of.”

You laughed. “We can’t ban someone from the hill just because we don’t like them.”  
  
“Don’t know about that one,” Colt said. “Levi has gone out of his way for you quite a ton.”  
  
“Keep your voice down,” Reiner muttered, glancing back at the office. “He’ll hear you.”  
  
“Let him,” Colt said, raising his voice slightly. “Maybe then he’ll consider raising my wage!”  
  
“In your dreams!” Levi yelled back, and a collective laughter broke out among the group. Pieck gathered up her things, and you got to your feet.  
  
“Well that’s that,” Colt said. “I’m clocking out. See you guys later.”  
  
“See you.”  
  
“We should head out too,” Pieck said, bumping her arm with yours. “Annie wanted to try and make chicken pot pie.”  
  
“I could go for some of that right about now,” Reiner mumbled, running a hand through his hair.  
  
“Come over,” you suggested, looking over at Pieck. She gave a nod of confirmation, and the man frowned.  
  
“No no, it’s alright.”  
  
“Seriously, we don’t mind,” you reassured him. “Come over.”  
  
“And listen to you continue to rant?” Reiner crinkled his nose. “I don’t think so.”  
  
“Funny,” you said, but you knew that he was right. You felt uneasy about Eren. And the fact that after almost three years he was back into your life? That was a bitter move by the universe. Foul play. You were finally started to piece your life back together, and then suddenly something else had to take a turn for the worst, and you knew that you weren’t going to be getting a break anytime soon.

  
  



	2. the shock factor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Levi-”
> 
> “Get up,” he said, grabbing onto your arm. He pulled lightly, and you straightened, meeting his eye. 
> 
> “I’m not doing it. He’s a dick.”
> 
> He ignored you. “You need to get yourself together.”
> 
> “Do you want me to blow a fuse? I’m not doing it!”
> 
> “You work for me, not the other way around,” Levi said sharply, his finger jabbing at your chest. “You’re too bold sometimes Y/N.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! 
> 
> I'm excited to post this chapter! It's more of a plot building one, but the interactions between Levi and Y/N are very important for the series. I also don't really have a solid posting schedule, maybe one chapter a week, or if I'm tired then one every two weeks? We'll see, but for now it's just whenever I feel like it.
> 
> Enjoy!!

**Two and a half years ago.**

It was just your luck that Eren decided to join the student council. You knew he didn’t like volunteering, and he wasn’t one for working with other people either, so it had shocked you when he showed up for the meeting during Tuesday’s lunch. Nanaba, the council’s president, even seemed shocked when he rolled through the door, Historia following him closely behind.

“What’s he doing here?” You asked, chin resting in your palm. You watched him cross the room, then take a seat a few desks over, beside Marco. 

“Beats me,” Connie mumbled, blowing his pencil shavings in Sasha’s direction. “Let’s just hope he isn’t staying.”  
  
“I heard that he needs more volunteer hours,” Sasha said, flicking them back over at Connie. “Luckily I got all mine finished last year.”  
  
“You did?” Connie asked, eyes widening. “All twenty-five of them?”

Sasha nodded proudly. “Yep. I helped out at the community supper almost every Monday in the winter.”  
  
“Shit,” Connie mumbled. “I should’ve done that.”  
  
“Well at least you’ve still got time,” you said. “Plus, decorating for the week will be a few hours.”  
  
Since it was the first month back at school, September, the student council had already banned together and decided to decorate the halls for the “Week of Welcome”. Basically it was just going to be a ton of posters and signs, maybe some balloons tied to the staircases; something in the main foyer by the principal’s office; information for clubs and programs too.  
  
Nanaba clapped her hands, getting the attention of the group. Eren laughed as he spoke to Marco, and Historia leaned over her chair to whisper something in his ear. You rolled your eyes, turning to face the front of the room. 

Nanaba went through introductions to the students who didn’t know her, and then she started with the planning, and eventually the sorting of groups. Throughout all your high school years, you had stayed loyal to the decorating committee, and you weren’t going to break that tradition for your final year.  


“Sports committee is full,” Nanaba said, tapping her fingers against the desk in front of you. “Mind if he joins?”  
  
She gestured to Eren, and although you were internally groaning, you nodded. You still didn’t even know why the fuck he was there. Luckily the student council at your school wasn’t something that people labelled for the nerdy, introverted goody-two-shoes, so it wasn’t like he was going to get shamed for it, but it just irritated you. Out of everything he could’ve done to get more hours, he picked  _ that _ ? It just didn’t make sense, but you tried not to let it bug you, even as you inspected the group. There were fifteen people in the committee. You, Sasha, Connie, Marco, Hanna, Daz, Samuel and some other juniors and sophomores that you didn’t recognize. And then of course Eren.  
  
“Okay,” you said, taking the group in. Eren shoved his hands into his pockets, leaning back in his chair. He was looking up at you with boredom, one brow lazily raised.  
  
You pulled your laptop, then motioned for the group to start giving you suggestions. You doubted that Eren would be any help, considering that just the week before he had sat in front of you while you did your work, ceaselessly taunting you and refusing to do anything other than such. You had actually asked him to “make himself useful” and help you fill out your bio homework, but you were met with no such prevail. He was a fucking bump on a log when it came to tasks that required any kind of effort, which was why you were shocked that he was even there at the meeting. Surely it wasn’t his choice. Maybe principal Pyxis had finally cracked down on him.

“I’m thinking balloons,” Marco said, hovering his fingers over his lips in thought. “I always loved it when they tied balloons everywhere.”  
  
“With the curly ribbons!” Sasha exclaimed, nodding. You typed the suggestions into a document, gesturing for them to continue.  
  
“You know in the hallway by the science lab?” Connie said, picking tiny chunks of eraser off of his pencil. “We could put a banner up there. Something like ‘Welcome Back Marley High!’.” He shrugged. “I think they used that back when we were sophomores.”  
  
“I don’t get why they’re even making us do this now,” Eren commented, drawing the attention from Connie to him. “I mean, it’s the middle of September. It’s not like we really need any  _ welcoming back _ .”

“It’s a nice gesture.” Hanna looked at you for reassurance. “Gets people excited for the new year.”  
  
Eren sighed, knee bouncing as he spoke. “I guess. Just doesn’t make much sense to me.”  
  
“Why don’t you join another committee then?” You fired back, looking at him over the screen of your laptop. “So the sports committee is full. Well, what about the service committee or something? Literally anything else.”

He rolled his eyes. “This is easier.”  
  
You glared at him, your fingers tapping against the keys of your computer aggressively. 

“No it’s not.”  
  
“Yeah it is.” He laughed obnoxiously. “String up some lights, cut some paper, throw around a fucking role of tape. It doesn’t really matter.”  
  
“C’mon Eren,” Marco urged, exchanging a look with you. “Try to cooperate, alright man?”

“Yeah yeah,” he said, glancing over his shoulder. “Should’ve gone with Historia.”  
  
“She’s in the social committee,” Daz chimed. “I don’t think you’d be very useful over there.”  
  
“Fuck off,” Eren muttered, tipping his head to the side. He glanced up at you from under his thick lashes, then yawned, letting his chest heave a sigh. “Well, we should get on with it then, shouldn’t we?”

“We’ve been trying to,” Connie mumbled, chucking his pencil up into the air.  
  
You cleared your throat. “Any more suggestions?”

“You know those hanging lights?” Hanna asked. “The fairy looking ones?”  
  
“Yeah.”  
  
“We could hang those over the office. They did that when I was a freshman and it looked really good.”  
  
“Oo nice,” you said, snapping your fingers at her. “That’s good. Does anyone have any?” 

“I can see,” Sasha said. “We have a shit ton of lights from the holidays."   
  
“Alright,” you said, punching that down onto the document. “I’ll see if Will has any. He took a bunch of our Christmas things to his new apartment.”  
  
“Aw,” Eren whispered, letting out a soft scoff at the mention of your brother. “I knew you’d find a fucking way to bring him into this. Letting the juniors and sophomores know that he’s off limits?” He gestured to the juniors and sophomores.  
  
“Shut up,” you muttered, the back of your neck going warm. You knew that he would say something. He always did.  
  
He just shrugged. “Typical Y/N. So sweet and protective.”  
  
“Eren,” Connie said sharply.  
  
“I’m tired of your interruptions, Yeager,” you said flatly. “Either start helping out or I’ll get Nanaba to find you somewhere else to mope and whine.”  
  
He shrugged. “Go right ahead.”

You swallowed tightly, but turned back to your computer. He didn’t say anything after that, just sat in silence as the rest of the group continued to contribute ideas. You could feel him watching you, see him in your peripheral vision rolling out his neck, or cracking his knuckles. When the end of the meeting was over, you had formulated quite the plan for the decorations, and you told you would email the list to Nanaba before the day was over. And although you tried to make your way out the door quickly, you still met Eren in the hallway, where he stood talking to Marco, and as you walked past him he moved to the side, his bag shoving into your chest.  
  
“You’re an asshole,” you said, shoving him back. “Did your mother ever teach you manners?”  
  
He seemed to actually ponder over the thought. “Maybe she did. They seemed to have left the moment I met you though.”  
  
You gave him a tight smile, stepping away from him and using every bit of will left in you to keep yourself from decking him in the face

“Of course.”

**Present time.**

Although Reiner didn’t show up for chicken pot pie on Sunday, he was there on Tuesday for pizza, dragging Bertholdt along with him. Annie wasn’t overly enthused with the idea, but she still made enough pizza for everyone, which you and Pieck took with excitement.  
  
“I’m shocked, truly,” Reiner said, biting into a slice of pepperoni. “I didn’t think you would let us through the door after what happened last time.”  
  
Pieck laughed, handing Bertholdt the napkin tray. “Believe me, Annie took some convincing.”  
  
“Quite a lot of it,” Annie assured, sipping from her glass. “And Bertholdt, please use a napkin.”  
  
Bertholdt paused mid-chew, glancing down at the stack in front of him. He had a ring of sauce around his lips, and he hurriedly grabbed at the napkins. Reiner slapped him on the back, letting out a loud laugh.  
  
“How’s working at the pub, Bertholdt?” You asked, taking another slice of cheese from the pizza wheel.  
  
He shrugged. “Not actually too bad.” 

“He’s been having some long hours though,” Reiner said, looking over at his roommate, who nodded.  
  
“Yeah, that’s the only sucky part. They’ll schedule me until two but I won’t get off until three or four sometimes.”

“What, does someone not come in to replace you?” Annie asked.  
  
“Sometimes yes, sometimes no.”  
  
Pieck frowned. “That’s no good. You should say something.”  
  
“It’s alright,” Bertholdt replied. “Good money, and I still get to sleep tons.” 

“Well, you can always come work with us,” you said, winking. Bertholdt laughed, and Reiner’s face lit up.  
  
“Oh!” He exclaimed, holding up a hand as he finished chewing. “That reminds me. Could you take my Friday shift?”

“Yeah, it shouldn't be a problem.” You didn’t even have to think about it. “What’s up?”  
  
“Porco said Marcel is coming back to town for the weekend. I wanted to catch up with him.”  
  
You nodded, thinking briefly of Sasha and Connie. The last time you had seen them was in August, four months ago, but you still frequently called and texted. You thought that after you graduated things between your trio would fall apart, since both of them were going to university hours away, but you managed to keep in touch. Unfortunately, you had also seen Eren, so maybe the universe just didn’t want you to distance from your high school classmates.  
  
You hadn’t thought about the encounter much since Sunday. You worked Monday and Tuesday, and there was no sign of him, so you assumed you were safe for at least a couple more days. Pieck was right, there was no guarantee that he had a season pass, but if he had moved back to Marley…  
  
You shook your head. You didn’t want to make a big deal about it. It was a good night, and you weren’t going to ruin that for everyone else.

***

Thursday was another afternoon shift, and that time you were scheduled with Colt. Pieck taught her lesson in the morning, but spent the afternoon looking for freshly fallen snow and bothering Porco. When you were finished your shift you met her at the lodge, and she complained about Porco’s lack of enthusiasm regarding tree routes.  
  
“So he doesn’t like double blacks and he doesn’t like tree routes.” You shook your head, getting down to pull on your shoes. You were going to wax a few of the staff members’ boards. “When did he become so picky?”

“When he decided that he was better than everyone else,” she said, laughing softly. 

“Which was from birth,” you commented. Pieck shook her head as she began to unlace her boots. She had braided her hair, something that didn’t happen often, and Annie had actually complimented her, which was something that never happened. She looked beautiful, and you wondered if Porco was ever going to work up the guts to ask her out.  
  
“Speak of the devil,” you said as he rounded the corner. He had gone to grab his things from the locker room, and his toque fell to the floor as he struggled.  
  
“Huh?” He asked, snatching it back up.  
  
“Nothing!” Pieck chimed, and Porco let out a heavy sigh. Sometimes you almost felt sorry for him; he just couldn’t catch a break. “Where’s your board?”  
  
“Around the back.” He peeled his fleece up and over his head. “I’ll go get it, just a second.”  
  
“Whose are these?” You asked, walking slowly around the boards. They were laid out over the far wall; six of them. They didn’t look like the park crew boards, but you couldn’t recognize any of the patterns, so they weren’t from anyone that you knew.  
  
“One of them belongs to Hitch,” Pieck said, stepping up beside you and placing her hands on her hips. “I think the blue and white one. That one with the black and red is…” She turned around. “Porco, who has the black and red one?”  
  
“Floch!” He yelled back, then you heard the sound of the back door slamming, then his feet stomping down the metal steps. 

“Ah,” Pieck whispered, nodding her head. “The rest? I have no idea.”  
  
“I haven’t seen Floch in a while,” you murmured, getting down on your knees to plug in the iron. Pieck hummed in agreeance, pulling the bucket of wax over closer to the boards. It was cold that day, extremely cold, so you weren’t going to risk waxing them outside. You would have to scrape off the excess on the balcony quickly, but there was no way in hell you were going to spend an extra forty minutes freezing your ass off. 

Porco returned from the back exit, holding his board along with a pair of grey skis. He rolled his eyes as he set them down on the floor next to Hitch’s snowboard.   
“No,” you said, letting out a groan. “Don’t tell me-”  
  
“He begged me to,” Porco said, kneeling down next to you. 

“Classic Jean,” you muttered, examining the skis. “Let me guess, he’s over at the restaurant.”  
  
“Bingo,” Porco answered. 

“Oh good,” Levi said, startling you as he came up the stairs from the main cafeteria. “You’re here.”  
  
“Sure are,” Porco said, throwing a stick of wax up in the air and catching it behind his back. Pieck started on Floch’s board, hovering her hand a few inches from the iron to make sure it was hot enough.  
  
“We just got in a new shipment of shit,” Levi said, dropping a bag at your feet. “Test out some of these.”  
  
“Got it,” Pieck said, pressing the wax against the iron and watching it drip onto the board. You grabbed the bag and started shuffling through it until you found a circular pink package, then started to unwrap it.  
  
“Great,” Levi muttered, heading towards his office. The door was almost closed when he stuck his head back out. “And don’t forget to tell Y/N what’s going on.”  
  
You paused halfway through your unwrapping, glancing between the two. “What?”

“New recruit,” Porco said, grabbing one of the sticks of wax and beginning to rub it against the board.  
  
“Jeez Porco, go get another iron,” Pieck muttered, shaking her head at him.

“New recruit?” You asked, frowning as you sorted through the rest of the bag. “What does that have to do with me?”  
  
Pieck and Porco exchanged glances, and Pieck gave you a look of sympathy. “Levi wants you to train him up,” she said, her lips pinching together in a tight line.

You frowned. “Why me?”  
  
Pieck glanced up at Porco yet again. “Well-”  
  
“Basically he wants you to stop focussing so much on the park and just take a bit of break. He may or may not have said you’re overworking yourself” Porco interjected, speaking quickly. 

“Huh? Take a break by giving me more hours?”

Pieck laughed. “Not exactly. He just-”  
  
“Wait a minute,” you cut her off, “why didn’t he just tell me this himself?”

Porco shrugged. “Maybe he didn’t want to hurt your feelings?”  
  
“Asshole,” you muttered, getting to your feet. “That doesn’t make any sense. Reiner trains the recruits, not me.”

“That’s what I said!” Porco called as you rapped your knuckles on Levi’s door.  
  
“You should really consider,” Pieck said, grabbing onto Jean’s skis. “It may not be a bad idea.”

Levi opened the door, and let out a groan, not caring how childish you sounded. “Come on Levi, what’s this about?”  
  
He sighed, opening the door wider and allowing you to step inside. It clicked closed behind you, and he made his way back over to his desk, crossing his arms as he sunk down into his chair. You took a seat on one of the small brown couches in front of his desk. You were highly unimpressed, and he mirrored your expression.  
  
“I figure they told you?”  
  
“They sure as hell did.” You frowned, shoulders sagging. “Training isn’t my job. And what’s up with this ‘overworking myself’ bullshit.”

Levi sighed. “I never said that.”  
  
“Porco told me you did.”  
  
“Little snitch,” he muttered, leaning back in his chair. The circles under his eyes had darkened since the last time you had seen him. He was a supervisor for mainly the park crew and snow groomers, and in your opinion he was on his way towards Mountain Operations Manager. Because he had a fairly fucked up sleep schedule he made a good higher-up: he was able to be in office through the late hours of the night, but you knew that it drained him. One look at his face and you could see that he wasn’t allowing himself to rest. But was that how he saw you?

“I want more hours,” you said, urging him to listen. “I’ve told you that plenty of times.”  
  
“I know.”  
  
“I like being busy, Levi.”  
  
“I know.”  
  
“So why are you doing this?”

He rubbed his eyes with one hand, sighing. “You’re a teenager, you shouldn’t be working as much as you are.”  
  
You scoffed. “First of all, I’ll be twenty in March. Second of all, are you really discouraging an employee from working? What kind of boss are you?”  
  
He rocked his chair side to side, and you knew better than to break his train of thought yet again. You had to come to the realization last year that, in some strange way, Levi was actually someone you could look up to. In your earlier years of working at Paradis, you had been scared of him, and you never wanted to go up to the lounge in fear that he would yell at you. It had been your brother, Will, that had finally introduced you to him, and he wasn’t actually as scary as you thought. He gave you good advice, and in the lowest points of your life, he let you off work without question. That was before you had become a “workaholic”, as he liked to call it. 

“Last week you had forty-six hours.”  
  
“So?”

“Y/N,” Levi said sternly. “This is self-sabotage. Stop it.”  
  
“I’m only working five days this week. That’s regular.”  
  
“You took Reiner’s shift. That’s six. I gave you a lighter schedule for a reason.”

“So why the hell are you making me train a new recruit?” You snapped, feeling the back of your throat tickle. There was no way you were going to cry in front of him, although you hated to admit that you had done it many times before. He couldn’t treat you like a child all the time. You could make your own decisions, whether he approved of them or not.  
  
“Y/N,” Levi said, a little softer, and you looked away. “You’re isolating yourself again. Many of the staff have noticed it too. I know it’s been a hard two years for you, but you can’t keep doing this to yourself.”  
  
You knew why he wanted you to train the new guy, but you just didn’t want to admit it. Levi was forcing you to teach a stranger instead of your usual routine as a form of punishment for taking other people’s hours, but also because he wanted you to cool down. You wouldn’t be able to stray from the schedule if you had someone else shadowing you. It could’ve been some kind of blackmail as well. If you weren’t going to listen then maybe he was going to give your shifts to the newbie.

“It’ll be a week,” Levi said. “Maybe two.” 

“That’s too long.”  
  
“Work with me here or I’ll fire you on the spot.” You tensed. He tipped his head at you. “You’re doing this, and that’s final.”

You had been through a lot with Levi. You had to trust him, even if it made your rage. From an outside perspective you probably were doing too much, but you needed a distraction. It was the only way you could comfortably live inside your own mind. 

“What’re the hours?” You asked quietly, looking down at your hands.  
  
“I’ll email you,” he replied. “Take Reiner’s shift, and finish your Saturday evening and Sunday night ones, but nothing else.”  
  
“I’m not a kid, Levi.”  
  
“Start acting responsible then,” he said, standing up. You slowly got to your feet, nodding at him. It was frustrating, but it was more embarrassing. Normal bosses didn’t talk to their employees like that, but Levi wasn’t a normal boss, and you weren’t just any other employee. 

“Hate me all you want. I wouldn’t do this if I wasn’t concerned,” Levi mumbled, opening the door back up for you.  
  
You sighed, turning back to him. “I know.”  
  
“Good,” he said. “Now finish those up and head home.”  
  
He flicked his head towards the boards before turning back into his office, leaving you to stare at the closed door.  
  
“And?” Porco asked. 

You looked over at them. Pieck was unplugging the iron, and Porco opened the sliding door to the balcony, setting two snowboards outside. He kept his gaze on you as he reached for the next one, waiting for your reply.  
  
“Yeah,” you croaked. “I’m not getting out of that one.”  
  
Porco sighed, closing the balcony door and heading back towards where you stood. He clapped you on the back, giving you a light shake.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said. “Before you know it you’ll be back to working twenty-five hours, eight days a week.”  
  
“You’re hilarious Porco.”

He thanked you. Pieck came back from one of the supply rooms, dusting off her hands on her pants. She gave you a once-over before nodding, pulling her keys out of her pocket. 

“You ready to go?” She asked, and you responded by grabbing your things. 

The ride down the gondola to the parking lot went by quickly, and the drive home went even faster. It could have been because you had a lot on your mind, or maybe it was the fact that you were nodding off every five minutes. Maybe Levi was right: a break could serve you well.

Annie was on the couch, and when you cracked open the front door she sat up, brushing her hair out of her eyes. 

“Hey,” she said quietly, closing her laptop and setting it on the small brown coffee table.  
  
“Hey,” you and Pieck answered, kicking off your shoes at the door. You shoved open the sliding closet door, then propped your snowboard up inside, taking Pieck’s as well. Annie’s skis were in her room, but her boots were knocked over by a bag of screws and bolts, so you straightened them out before heading to your and Pieck’s room to drop off the rest of your stuff. She followed, sighing heavily.

“You tired?” You asked, placing your bag on your bed grabbing a hoodie from the pile of clothes on your desk chair.  
  
“Unfortunately,” Pieck said, beginning to take her hair out of her braids. “I don’t work until Sunday though. You can still take the car though.”  
  
You waved her off. “I’ll catch the bus, it’s no worries.”  
  
“Nono,” she said as the two of you made your way back into the living room. “I don’t mind. I might go shopping on Saturday, but other than that I’m free.”  
  
“What’s this?” Annie asked, making her way into the kitchen. She rummaged around in the fridge, and you hopped up onto one of the barstools, pushing a few bits and pieces over on the counter to prop up your elbows. 

“Pieck doesn’t work until Saturday.”

“Ah,” Annie said, pulling out a green tupperware. She lifted off the lid, frowning as she peered inside, then showed you the contents. “You fine with leftover spaghetti?”  
  
“Sounds good,” Pieck answered, plugging her phone in by the stove. “I’m starved.”

“Same,” you mumbled, slouching your face into your hands. “And maybe Levi was actually onto something. I am pretty tired.” As if on cue, you let out a yawn, pinching your eyes shut.  
  
“That’s what Porco and I have been saying for weeks,” Pieck said, pursing her lips at you. “But of course you didn’t listen.”  
  
“Maybe Levi is rubbing off on you with his bad sleep habits,” Annie said, pulling out a frying pan and dumping the noodles inside.  
  
You groaned. “Maybe. I don’t know.”  
  
“He really gave Y/N the gears today,” Pieck said to Annie, who raised her brows. 

“Is that so?”  
  
You gave her a look of dismay, letting out a huff. “He wants me to cut back on my hours. He’s having me train up this guy as punishment.” You paused. “I guess. I don’t even know.”

“Weird,” Annie mumbled. “I’m sure he has the right intentions.”  
  
“He rarely has the right intentions,” Pieck said, leaning back against the counter. “But when it comes to Y/N, he has a spot sport for sure.”  
  
Your shoulders sagged as you dragged your hands over your face, rubbing your eyes and pulling at your skin. Fatigue was slowly beginning to take over you.  
  
“It’s just because of everything that’s happened,” you said, chewing on a hangnail. It stung as you ripped the skin away, and you frowned, picking the rest away.  
  
“Either way,” Annie stated, “it’s probably a good idea to listen to him.”  
  
You nodded, your cheek pressing harder against your palm as you closed your eyes. You could hear the sizzling of the spaghetti on the stove as you drifted in and out of your thoughts, and after you had eaten and showered, you were fast asleep in bed before Pieck even turned off the light.

***

You caught the bus up to the hill at 8:30 in order to give you plenty of time to prepare before you were meant to train the new employee. You sat with Marlow on the gondola, and talked about how Jean had completely fucked up during his last shift. The man coached ski lessons a handful of times a week, but you weren’t sure how he still had his job because he was far too overenthusiastic, and oftentimes he took the kids through twisting tree routes, or urged them to try and hit risky jumps along the sides of the hill. Erwin had lectured him many times regarding that, but the scolding went straight in one ear and out the other. 

“So this guy you’re training up,” Marlow said as you neared the end of the gondola ride. “Does he have experience?”  
  
“I don’t know actually. I guess so? I didn’t really ask, but I’m assuming Levi has seen him in action.” You shrugged as you stood up, waiting for the doors to open. “I guess I’ll find out.”  
  
“You should’ve stalked him on instagram; seen if he had any good pics or vids.”  
  
“Couldn’t,” you said, stepping out of the gondola and grabbing your board. “I didn’t get his name.”  
  
Marlow let out a huff, grabbing his own board as the two of you headed towards the lodge. You smiled at a few other staff members, as well as waved at the groups of skiers and boarders who were crowded around the front of the racks. You set your board up in one of the slots, then followed Marlow upstairs to clock in. 

Levi was in front of the fire in the lounge, typing away at his computer and glancing between the screen and the book beside him.  
  
“Morning,” you called as you crossed the room to the work iPad, clocking yourself in.  
  
“Goodmorning Y/N,” Levi replied. “You ready for today?”  
  
“Yeah,” you answered, making your way over to him. You had put on all your gear in the gondola, but you still needed to lace up your boots. “When will he be here?”  
  
Levi checked his watch. “Any time now. Probably ten minutes.”

You finished tying your laces, then made sure your snow pants were velcroed tight enough around your waist before standing up and yanking on your neck warmer. It wasn’t as cold as it had been the week before, but there was definitely a nip to the air, and you made sure that you had brought your heatable gel packs for your gloves. You did.  
  
“Oh yeah,” you said, twisting around to make sure your fleece was tucked into your pants. “What’s his name? I don’t think I caught it.”  
  
“Eren.” 

You froze, your heart lurching up into your throat, which instantly went dry. It felt as if someone had dropped a bowling ball down your esophagus, because your stomach pitted, threatening to pin you to the ground. There was no way that it was the same Eren. It had to have been a mistake.  
  
As you slowly turned back to Levi, he glanced up from his computer. His brows furrowed, lips curling down as he read the expression on your face.  
  
“God, are you alright?” He asked, setting his computer aside. You doubled over, your eyes fixated on the floor. “Are you sick?”  
  
“You’re fucking kidding me,” you whispered. “Eren who?”  
  
“What?”  
  
“Eren  _ who _ ?”

“I don’t remember his last name,” Levi said, moving to the end of the couch. He dropped his head to try and peer at your face, but you turned away from him, your jaw clenching. Now what were the fucking odds of that, huh? Did the universe really hate you as much as you hated Eren?  
  
“I can’t do it,” you said, shaking your head. “I won’t.”  
  
“Fucking hell Y/N,” Levi snapped, standing up suddenly. You had become used to his cursing and foul language, but his tone still made you flinch. He always tried to remain calm around you, but he was known for having a short temper, and it was something that you both had in common. Out of the corner of your eye you could see him gritting his teeth, one hand rubbing the back of his neck.

“Levi-”  
  
“Get up,” he said, grabbing onto your arm. He pulled lightly, and you straightened, meeting his eye.  
  
“I’m not doing it. He’s a dick.”  
  
He ignored you. “You need to get yourself together.”  
  
“Do you want me to blow a fuse? I’m not doing it!”  
  
“You work for me, not the other way around,” Levi said sharply, his finger jabbing at your chest. “You’re too bold sometimes Y/N.”

“This was your idea!”  
  
Levi looked like he wanted to slap you straight across the face, and you couldn’t blame him. You were being a pain in the ass, but he didn’t know the full story. You had told him the events between your family, but nothing about Eren or your high school days. You preferred to leave it in the past, and you didn’t think that mentioning it would have benefitted you in any way. 

“I know you’re having a rough time,” Levi said, his hand still clutching your fleece. “But Y/N, you have  _ got  _ to calm down, my God. You can’t refuse training someone just because you don’t like them. You know how many people I’ve met in this business that I’d willingly send six feet under?”

You took a long breath, trying to clear your head. You had admitted that listening to him was the right choice, and it was foolish of you to believe that he would just let you get away with running from the job. Even if he did have a soft spot for you, he seemed to always ignore your desires and put your mental health first, sometimes pushing you to do things that you didn’t want to do, and no matter how wrong you thought he was, looking back he always did the right thing. So you had to trust him, and you had to listen, because even though both of you were angry, he was the one with the level head.

But...  
  
“Can Reiner do it?" You pleaded. “I’ll go home.”  
  
Levi inspected you, eyes narrowed as he took in your current state. You didn’t move beneath his grasp, and it wasn’t until there was a laugh from one of the other offices that he let go, dropping his hand to his side. And it was a good thing, because a moment later someone was bounding up the stairs, saying that a guy was waiting by the information desk, claiming he was there to start his training.  
  
“I’m sorry, but you’ve got to suck it up,” Levi muttered, stepping away. “Come talk to me later.”

You grabbed your helmet and phone from the couch, yanking your lower lip through your teeth and trying to steady your temper. Your heart was hammering in your chest as you walked away from him, then down the stairs, slowly placing one foot in front of the other until you were standing in front of the information desk. 

You kept your eyes downcast, staring at the black boots not two feet away from yours, jaw slack. He didn’t acknowledge you at first, and you had a few extra moments to try and compose yourself before you looked up, meeting those eyes that you had stared into so many times before.  
  
“Hey Y/N.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! 
> 
> It seriously makes my day when I see people have viewed my fic. There's not a ton of Eren action this chapter, but from now on there will be plenty. I always love getting feedback and comments too:)


	3. unlucky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Hey man, I’m Eren.”
> 
> “Jean,” the lift attendant replied, giving him a nod. “Glad to see we’ve got someone else to keep Y/N under control.”
> 
> You hung your head, letting out a deep sigh. “Now Jean, I don’t know how many times we’ve-”
> 
> “I’ve got it,” Eren said, giving you a light punch. “We went to school together actually.”
> 
> Jean’s brows raised. “Damn! Call it your high school reunion, yeah?”
> 
> “I guess you could say that.” You shuffled forward in line. “Don’t know if he’ll be staying around though.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay... some parts in this fic won't be an accurate representation of how working at a ski hill is, but its for the plot so just... go with it.   
> anyway. y/n is a bit of a moody character ngl, but things will come 'round in the end. thank you for reading!!

**Two and a half years ago.**

“Can you grab those for me?” You asked, one hand gripping the handle of the ladder while the other reached for the next string of lights.   
  
Eren groaned, reluctantly handing them up to you. “You should’ve forced Connie to do this instead.”  
  
“And why would I have wanted to put him through it?” You fired back, lining the small bulbs up beside the ones you had put up previously. You frowned as you pulled the tape from your hoodie pocket, then carefully tore off a piece long and wide enough to hold them up. They weren’t very heavy.   
  
“This is so fucking dumb,” Eren muttered, leaning against the wall below you. He crossed his arms over his chest, and one foot kicked lightly against the cardboard box you had found with multiple roles of tape and string.   
  
“Do you ever stop complaining?”  
  
“No.”  
  
You sighed, stretching up to place the last row of lights. Once you made sure everything was lined up properly, you started back down the ladder. Eren scowled at you as you stepped off, peering up at your handiwork.

“It doesn’t look too bad,” you said, placing your hands on your hips. “All things considered.” You gave him the side-eye and he snorted.   
  
“Don’t get up all in Nanaba’s face about me ‘not helping out’. I did shit.”  
  
“You stood around and handed me things. Most times, not even the stuff I asked for.”  
  
He shrugged, pushing away from the wall. “That’s still something. Are we almost finished?”  
  
“What, do you have somewhere to be?”  
  
His eyes darted back over to you, scoffing as if you had said something completely absurd. “Me and Historia are back together. I’m assuming you didn’t know since you take absolutely zero notice to people around you.”  
  
“It’s Historia and  _ I _ ,” you mumbled, beginning to lower the ladder. “You didn’t have to sign up for this anyway. No one is forcing you to be here.”  
  
Eren seemed to consider that, a few strands of hair falling into his eyes as he tipped his head. His expression then shifted to one of disgust, and he decided that clapping you across the back was the proper response.   
  
“You just proved my point,” he said, shoving his hands into his pockets and tilting his chin up with pride. “You don’t pay attention to anyone.”

“You’re insufferable.”

“You know what Y/N? It comforts me to know that you don’t like me.”

“Huh? Why?”

Eren grinned, tipping his head at you. He reached out to grab your shoulder, then shook you lightly as if he was going to offer his condolences or deliver bad news, but then he turned, shoving his hands back into his pockets and striding out the main doors. He didn’t glance back, or mention your encounter again, but you never ever found out what he meant by that. You weren’t sure if you wanted to know. 

**Present time.**

“What the hell are you doing here?” You asked, your voice involuntarily raising. You were towards the back of the cafeteria, but people still bustled all around, so it probably wasn’t the best idea to cause a scene right there and then, so you tried to compose yourself, letting out a shaky breath. 

“No ‘hello’?” Eren asked, offering you a lopsided grin. “That’s a little rude don’t you think, Y/N?”  
  
You gave him a quick once-over, your arms folding tightly over your chest. He was taller than you remembered, and although he had on a dark grey beanie, you could tell that his hair was a lot longer too. It was tied back at the nape of his neck, and a few strands fell into his eyes. Although his facial features hadn’t changed all too much, his eyes had lost most of their glint, and they then appeared dull, as if clouded over by thought. 

“Well, are we going to get started?” He asked, gazing around the cafeteria. The hint of a smile ghosted his lips as he turned his head, inspecting the lodge.   
  
How could you be so unlucky?  
  
“I can’t believe this,” you said, standing ridgid beside him. “You left town.”  
  
“Well clearly I came back,” he replied, his attention turning back to you. “People move all the time. It’s nothing unusual.”

You let out a huff, dropping your arms as you stared at him. After all the years in school together, you were finally reunited, although you wouldn’t call it a happy assembly. You had decided as soon as you graduated that you would let everything between you go for good, but now that he was there, standing not three feet away from you, you weren’t sure if it was possible to completely reconcile everything.

He was a pain in the ass. End of story.

“Are you just going to gawk at me for the rest of the day or are we actually going to get some shredding done?” He asked, giving you a look of skepticism. 

“I’m not gawking,” you said, taking a step away from him. He was dressed in his snowboarding gear, but he didn’t have the proper Paradis attire. You sighed, gesturing back up the stairs. You hoped that you wouldn’t run into Levi, because you didn’t want him to see you sulking like a child. The thought motivated you to plaster on a smile, no matter how irritated you were feeling. You weren’t walking down your high school hallway, you were at work, and you had to appear presentable and positive. 

Tapping a finger against the iPad by Levi’s office, you motioned Eren over. 

“This is where you clock in,” you said. “It shouldn’t be too difficult. Did Levi tell you to download the work app?”  
  
He nodded, pulling out his phone. “I’ve got some kind of code.”  
  
You stepped away from the device, rocking back on your heels. Your toes were cold despite being inside. It was another chilly day. “Punch it in. He’s not very forgiving when you forget.”

Eren glanced up from his phone before tapping the iPad with his knuckle. “I’m assuming you’re not either.”

“Maybe just not to you,” you said, then added, “since you’re the rookie.”  
  
He raised a brow, not looking up from the screen. “You sure that’s all?”  
  
“Of course.” You gave him a sweet smile, nodding at Marlow as he headed towards the fireplace. “Why else?”  
  
Eren’s eyes darted over to you, and he snorted, shaking his head. He pushed his beanie away from his eyes with the back of his hand, and then gave himself a firm nod before stepping away from the device. You started across the lounge. The changeroom that held all the spare gear was at the end of a long hall, right before the back door exit. Eren examined the hall before he stepped into the room.   
  
“Do I get a fancy coat?” He asked, his voice raising with anticipation. 

You shuffled through the uniforms until you found one with a sticky note on the breast pocket, the words Eren Yeager scribbled across in Levi’s scratchy handwriting.

“Here,” you offered, shoving it towards him. He took the hanger with a lopsided grin, tipping his head to inspect the attire. 

“So we get to match, then?” He glanced between you and the uniform. “Lucky me.”  
  
Your brows flicked up quickly, giving him a tight smile. If he was bad at snowboarding it may have been easier for you. You could just tell him what to do and how to do it, and then you could leave it up to him to figure out the rest. But he wasn’t bad at boarding, because everybody who applied for the park crew position obviously had to be well enough to do the tricks. That made you more annoyed, but you tried not to let it show. You couldn’t put your job at risk, not when snowboarding meant so much to you. It was one of the ways that you felt closer to your family and friends, but as well as yourself too. 

You weren’t going to let Eren ruin that for you.   
  
“Where’s your board?” You asked, glancing at him over your shoulder. He had changed into the uniform, and he fiddled with the zipper before yanking it up to his chin. His fingers grazed over the neon logo. 

“Downstairs.”  
  
“It’s black right?”  
  
“Does it really matter?”  
  
You started down the stairs. “They prefer one solid colour.”

Eren tapped his nails against the railing as he skipped the steps two at a time. “Who’s they?”  
  
“Mostly Levi. He’s our supervisor. I’m pretty sure you talked to him over the phone.” 

“Ah yeah,” Eren replied, jogging to your side as you headed out the doors. “Grumpy dude?”  
  
You gave him a look. “To those that show him attitude.”  
  
Eren held his hands up in defense. “I didn’t do anything!”  
  
“Yeah right.”  
  
“I’m serious.”  
  
“You’re ever serious,” you snapped. “I still don’t understand why you’re even back here.”  
  
“Do you want a life’s story?” He asked, cocking his head at you as he pulled on his helmet, then lowering his goggles. “Because I’ve got all the time in the world.”  
  
“I don’t.”  
  
“Well Y/N, notice how I actually didn’t ask you,” Eren stated, gesturing towards you with his glove. He yanked the pair on, then grabbed his board, which was propped up in one of the racks. 

He hadn’t changed. Not a bit. Sure, maybe the cocky tone had calmed down a little bit since his teenage years, but his words were still bitter, much like yours. You wondered briefly if his mom had whipped him into shape while he was out in the boonies, but judging from his attitude there was no progress. Hypocrisy though; you weren’t one to talk. You knew that you held a grudge against him, and you would continue to do so. 

“Let’s get going,” you grumbled, heading towards the supply shed. He followed, his board tucked under his arm. “This is the shed where we keep all the tools you’ll need for grooming and fixing up the park.” The door swung open and waved your hand around at the different devices. His eyes followed your movements, nodding slowly.    
You gave him the breakdown as best as you could, internally cringing. God, you sounded so fucking stupid. You had no idea what you were doing (you had never trained anyone before!) and you were in a bad mood to begin with. 

“C’mon,” you said, flicking your thumb in the direction of the lift. “Let’s get going. You can take that rake there-” you pointed “-and I’ll grab the shovel.” 

Eren picked up the tool, swinging it up onto his shoulder as he waltzed up to the lift. “You’re a bit more of a hard-ass than I remember.”  
  
You scoffed at the comment. “Is that so?” He nodded. “Well maybe you’re more uncompromising than you used to be.”

“Uncompromising?” He repeated. “S’okay Y/N, you don’t have to use your big words around me.”

You got in line for the lift, ignoring his remark. He knew that he was getting under your skin, and it had barely been twenty minutes together. You still had at least another five hours before you could be rid of him. Fingers crossed that he wasn’t going to stay for the whole shift, because you didn’t think you could survive an entire eight hours with him tagging along.

Snowboarding was your special thing. Throughout your childhood it was something you loved to do with your family, and it was your brother Will that taught you all the basics. Snowboarding was an escape from the stress of school and friends and everything else wrong in the world. It was an easy way out, but that moment crumbled as soon as Eren took foot in the lodge. It was no longer such a safe space for you.

“Hey Y/N!” Jean called as you neared the loading platform. You waved back at him, and he made his way towards you, still keeping an eye on the lift. “How goes it?”  
  
“Eh,” you said, shrugging. “Same as always. Training up a new recruit today.” You gestured behind you, and Eren held up a hand in greeting. 

“Hey man, I’m Eren.”  
  
“Jean,” the lift attendant replied, giving him a nod. “Glad to see we’ve got someone else to keep Y/N under control.”  
  
You hung your head, letting out a deep sigh. “Now Jean, I don’t know how many times we’ve-”  
  
“I’ve got it,” Eren said, giving you a light punch. “We went to school together actually.”  
  
Jean’s brows raised. “Damn! Call it your high school reunion, yeah?”  
  
“I guess you could say that.” You shuffled forward in line. “Don’t know if he’ll be staying around though.”  
  
“What makes you say that?”   
  
“I’m literally a saint,” Eren chimed, pointing at Jean. “This guy can see it.”  
  
“I mean sure man,” Jean agreed. “I’ll back you up.”  
  
“Wow,” you muttered. “Thanks Jean.”  
  
“I know you love me,” he said, taking a few steps back to the platform. He smacked his chest with one gloved fist. “Nobody can replace me. You remember that, huh newbie!”

“Got it!” Eren replied, chuckling under his breath as he lowered the rake from his shoulder. It narrowly missed your head, and you weaved away from him, sliding out onto the platform. The chair scooped you and Jean’s laughter died with the wind. As you pulled down the overhead bar, you glanced at Eren, who was staring back over his shoulder, down at Jean.  
  
“Nice dude,” Eren said, turning around. “Seems to like me too, eh?”  
  
You leaned forward on the bar. “Guess he does. Lucky you, he’s a talker.”  
  
“Is he?” Eren asked flatly, tipping his head. “I couldn’t tell.” 

You inspected the park below you. It was still early afternoon, so the equipment hadn’t been used all too much yet, but that was even better to show Eren how to do things. 

When you got off the chair you slid towards the park, keeping one boot still strapped to your board. Eren did the same, riding beside you with ease. Of course he was good at snowboarding, but you hadn’t really seen him in action. If it was true that he had only started a few years ago, he probably wasn’t better than you  _ yet _ , but he could be. The thought fueled you to push on through the shift, because you couldn’t steer away from enhancing your own abilities. If anything, Eren’s presence just made you want to become even more skilled than before.   
  
“Alrighty then,” you said, unclipping your board. “We should probably start with the basics, but knowing you, you’ve either already learned everything there is to know, or you’re just going to watch me do all the work while you slack off and taunt people.”  
  
Eren raised his goggles and pulled down his neck warmer. His face lit up as he nodded at you, exposing a row of perfectly straight, white teeth. “I think both!”  
  
“Well aren’t I lucky?” You shook your head, flipping your board over to prevent it from sliding away. “I’ve always wanted to see an asshat in action.”  
  
“In action?” He repeated, taking off his own board as well. “I’ve been productive many times in my life, I’ll have you know.”  
  
“Really? When?”  
  
“Remember back in high school, when we had to decorate for the new semester?” He lowered his goggles back down, pulled up his neck warmer, then tightened his gloves around the cuffs of his jacket. He looked at you, waiting for your response. Of course you remembered. You remembered almost all of the encounters that you had with him.   
  
You hesitated. “Yeah, what about it?”

“I was useful then, eh?” 

You pretended to think about it, making a great deal out of scratching your head and sighing. Then finally, you answered, “Ah… nope.”  
  
He huffed. “There’s a first for everything Y/N.”  
  
“Good, I’d like to see that today then,” you replied, leaning your chest against the handle of the shovel. Eren strode over, his gaze turned to the rail between the two of you.  
  
“This one first then?” 

“Yep.”  
  
“Are you going to be any help today or?” 

“I wish I had the option not to be.”  
  
“You’re a fucking ray of sunshine,” he said flatly. 

You gawked at him, thankful that he couldn’t see your reaction. How did Levi ever think that training him was a good idea? How the fuck did Eren even land the job? He was ignorant, and clearly didn’t care about all the things that had happened between the two of you. There was no way that the two of you would ever get along as coworkers, and you were going to reaffirm that with Levi as soon as the shift ended.

Slowly, and extremely painfully, you worked through the day, showing Eren all the components to park grooming. Both to your relief and your dismay, he picked up on the process quite easily, and he followed alongside you efficiently, raking and shovelling and inspecting the terrain. When the two of you had made it to the end of the park, you told him to return the tools back to the shed.

“Now we normally just ride around and check the conditions,” you said as you headed back up the lift. “Fencing and signs can be roughed up throughout the day. It’s our job to fix that.”  
  
Eren let out a laugh, draping his arm over the back of the chairlift. “Is that what you were doing when you crashed into me?”  
  
The back of your neck went warm, and once again you were thankful that you had the cover of your goggles and mask. 

“I didn’t fucking know it was you!”  
  
“Well maybe you should’ve been a little more careful, eh?”

“I came from the more popular trail,” you defended, turning away from him. “You were the one that wasn’t paying attention.”  
  
Eren gasped. “You’re going to blame the innocent snowboarder and not take responsibility as part of the Paradis staff?” He clicked his tongue. “Y/N, that’s shameful.”  
  
“Fuck off.”  
  
He clicked his tongue, gloves tapping against the metal rail of the chair. “You’re funny. Can’t say I’ve missed you though.”  
  
“Your company wasn’t pleasant,” you snapped, praying that the lift would move just a little fucking faster. Since when did it go so slow?  
  
“Neither was yours.”  
  
“Then why the hell wouldn’t you leave me alone?” You turned back to him. “Here you are again, messing up my life.”

He whistled. “Y/N… that hurt.”  
  
“Asshole,” you muttered as you lifted the bar back up. As you slid off of the chair you made a mental note to murder Levi for putting you in that god-awful position, and you just hoped by some miracle that he would change his mind about the situation. But… he was a stubborn man, and you knew that best out of anyone.

You continued to lead Eren through the rest of the day, showing him how to fix up the signs and look for imperfections and hazards in the fencing. It was a relief when you finished up, sliding to the bottom of the hill. It was a long day, and a painful one at that.  
  
Levi was in his office when you reached the lounge, and you poked your head into his office. He had his feet kicked up onto his desk, and he frowned at the computer screen in front of him. Eren stood behind you, waiting to clock out, and you shuffled into the office to allow him access to the iPad.   
  
Levi looked up. “Y/N.”  
  
“Hey,” you said, fiddling with the bottom of your coat. 

“Is Eren out there?” You nodded. “Call him in too.”  
  
You were about to protest, but Levi gave you a look, and you stuck your head back out of the office, beckoning him in. 

“Hey man,” Eren said as he stepped into the room, lightly swinging the door closed behind him. He had his beanie back on, and he pulled it off to quickly run his fingers through his hair. You took a seat across from Levi, in one of the fading armchairs, and Eren did the same.   
  
“Feedback from your first day?” He asked, his eyes not leaving the screen in front of him.   
  
“Solid,” Eren replied, leaning back in his seat. The pads of his fingers tapped against the aging leather, creating a soft pitter-patter rhythm within the room.  
  
“Solid?” Levi repeated. “Y/N, would you agree?”  
  
He was totally taunting you. There was no question about it. He just wanted to rub it in your face that he was the superior in the situation.   
  
You chuckled. “It went smoothly.”  
  
He muttered something inaudible, then set his laptop aside. His feet dropped from the desk, and he placed his hands atop the wood, staring between the two of you. The room was quite hot. He needed to open a window; the heat was blasting. 

You shifted uncomfortably in your seat.   
  
“I heard that you and Y/N used to go to school together,” Levi said. “Is that true?”  
  
“Oh yeah.” Eren nodded. “We were close.”  
  
You scowled at him, and Levi’s brows raised with suspicion. 

“Is that so?”   
  
“Mhm.”  
  
“No it’s not,” you corrected, holding out your arm out in a 'please shut the fuck up' sort of way. “We weren’t exactly friends.”  
  
“Yes we were,” Eren said, his head whipping towards you. “We were always together. Glued at the hip, actually.”  
  
You gaped at him. You weren’t sure exactly what he was getting at, but you didn’t like it. Eren and you were absolutely not friends, and you never spent any time together that wasn’t forced by teachers or other students. He was a liar; just trying to get a reaction out of you. He probably wanted to fire you up in front of Levi and make you look like the bad guy. 

Naturally.

“That’s not what I heard,” Levi grumbled, reaching over to grab his mug. He pretended that it was coffee, but the man had a strong addiction to tea. He had about five cups a day, even though the caffeine probably would’ve benefited him more.   
  
“Oh, so you’ve talked about me then?” He asked, a grin breaking out across his face. 

“Briefly,” Levi answered before you got the chance. “Y/N was only curious about who the trainee was.” 

“Classic,” Eren laughed, picking at the material of the chair. “I love the job already.”  
  
Levi inspected him, then sipped from his mug. “Glad to hear it.”  
  
“Yeah man, thanks again for the position.”  
  
You rolled your eyes. You were going to kill both the men in the room. God, where was Pieck when you needed her? You would’ve taken Porco over Eren any day. 

“I just wanted to check in. Eren, you can go,” Levi said, waving him off. “Y/N, would you stay back a minute?”  
  
“Do I have a choice?”  
  
He frowned at you. “No.”  
  
“As expected,” you muttered, glancing down at the floor. Out of the corner of your eye you saw Eren stand, and you waited until you heard the door close before you let out a groan, dropping your head back against the couch.  
  
“You’re a brat,” Levi said, kicking his feet back up on the desk. “He doesn’t seem bad at all.”  
  
“You wouldn’t get it. He’s an asshole who doesn’t know boundaries or respect. He was playing an act just now.”  
  
“Sounds like a you problem,” Levi muttered, bringing a pen up to his lips as he stared down at his laptop once more.   
  
“I can’t believe I had to do that.”  
  
“You’re whining like a child.”  
  
“Levi.”  
  
He gave you a stern look. “I don’t regret doing this. Not one bit.”  
  
“What are you? My dad?”  
  
“I’m old enough to be,” he admitted, then pulled back his sleeve to check his watch. “I’ve got to meet Erwin in five minutes.” When you didn’t move he flicked his wrist at you. “Get out.”  
  
You sighed, making your way to the door. Levi gathered up a few things, then followed you out. He didn’t bid you goodbye, and so you clocked out, then headed back outside to grab your board and wait for the bus. You would have to wait about ten or fifteen minutes, but the weather had gotten nicer in the afternoon, so you didn’t mind standing in the line. 

You leaned up against one of the metal fences that separated the road from the sidewalk, pulling out your phone. Porco had sent you a few annoying text messages, and Reiner asked about your schedule, but other than that, your notifications were pretty dry.  
  
The bus was pretty empty, so you took a seat close to the back. You spotted Hitch a few rows ahead, and as your eyes drifted to the front you saw Eren come up the steps, putting in his earbuds. He didn’t see you, and thank god. You sunk down further in your seat, feeling the weight of the day finally begin to set over you, and you hoped that things weren’t going to be that way forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> that's all folks. i have exams this week but i should be able to pump out another chapter mid-week.   
> thank you again!


	4. messy encounters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Rough around the edges, huh?” Porco asked, leaning back. “What are you, a criminal?”
> 
> “According to Y/N I am.” Eren gestured to you, and you scowled at him.
> 
> “I’m guessing you guys didn’t get along in high school?” Armin asked, glancing between the two of you. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys!  
> just a little note here. y/n's sex is female, but i wanted the reader to feel more comfortable, so im trying to use she/they pronouns instead of just she/her! i hope that this can help a broader audience insert themselves into the fic. i'm also trying to keep it with no descriptions of physical appearance either, but let me know if i make any references to height, hair length/hair colour, ethnicity, etc!

**Two and a half years ago.**

“Bogus!” Connie shouted, shoving Sasha further down the hall. “You’re full of shit.”  
  
She fought against him, trying desperately to turn around. “No I’m serious!”  
  
“I know you did not just yell ‘bogus’ in a public place,” you said, chuckling under your breath.  
  
“What’s wrong with that?” He asked, giving Sasha yet another shove. “She totally copied my assignment!”

“There’s no way to know for sure,” you said.   
  
“No way to know?” Connie repeated, stopping in the middle of the hall. A few girls gave him a look of skepticism, but he didn’t seem to care. “She literally wrote everything that I had, word for word. And get this! Right after she handed it in, she took my fucking lunch!”  
  
You snickered, giving Sasha a look as she pleaded with Connie.  
  
“I didn’t, I promise. We just have similar trains of thought!”  
  
“Even if it wasn’t copied, you still took my lunch!”  
  
“Please Connie.”  
  
“He’s not going to kill you,” you said, shaking your head at the pair.   
  
Connie raised his brows. “Don’t test me.”

“I promise I’ll buy you more croissants,” Sasha said as Connie resumed walking. “Y/N, what are you doing after school? Let’s go shopping.”  
  
“I can’t.”  
  
“Why?”  
  
“Will and I are going to look for a new snowboard jacket for the season,” you replied, tugging on the ends of your backpack straps. It was the end of September, which meant that the ski hill would open in just over a month. The time would go by quickly, but you couldn’t wait to get back out onto the slopes. In the winter it was all you ever did. Every single weekend you were out with Will or other friends, carving up the hill. It was a shame that Sasha and Connie never really got into the activity, but sometimes it was just good to go with your brother, or go alone. 

“We should have a picnic before it gets too cold,” Sasha said, completely straying from the previous conversation.   
  
“A picnic?” Connie questioned, skewing his expression. “We’ve never had a picnic.”  
  
“There’s a first for everything,” Sasha remarked, and you shrugged, weaving through the crowd. You had World History next, which meant parting ways with Connie and Sasha, and the pair waved as you headed down the hall, dodging some kid in a red jacket who was tossing around a basketball.  
  
“Posters look good,” someone said from behind you, and you glanced over your shoulder to be met with a familiar freckled face.   
  
You grinned. “Thanks Marco. They were a bit of work to put up.”  
  
“Can’t tell,” he replied, hooking his thumbs into the straps of his bag. “You were with Eren right?”  
  
“Yeah,” you grumbled, glancing at the hall clock quickly.   
  
“How was that?”  
  
“I really shouldn’t tell you,” you laughed. “He’s your best friend, is he not?”  
  
Marco shrugged, a sheepish smile on his face. “You could say that.”

“I could also say that he’s a pain in the ass,” you said, “but I think you’ve heard enough of that already.”

“From him too, believe me,” Marco said, finishing his sentence with a sigh.  
  
“I don’t think you should be telling me this either.” You elbowed him. “What are you, a messenger?”  
  
“Hey!” He laughed. “You’re my friend too.”

“Thanks Marco,” you replied. 

“But on the topic of being friends…”  
  
“Oh god.”  
  
“Nono!” He held up his hands. “Nothing bad, I swear!” You peered at him. “I might have a party this weekend. Nothing big, just a little something.”  
  
“Oh shit, yeah?”  
  
“Yeah. I was thinking most of the group from the club, plus a few more.”  
  
You shrugged. “Sure. Sounds great.”  
  
“Great,” Marco said, nodding at you. “It’ll be good to catch up with you a bit more. You’ve been busy lately.”  
  
Your smile faltered, but you tried not to let it show. He wasn’t wrong, but you just had hoped that nobody would acknowledge your absence. Things hadn’t exactly been picture-perfect over the past few months.  
  
“Yeah,” you said quietly. “It’ll be good.”   
  
  


**Present time.**

Colt had to take Falco to an appointment in the city, which meant that Porco was out of luck for a lift. It didn’t matter that the bus was literally a five minute walk from his and Colt’s apartment, he still refused to go. You didn’t know why, but Porco was oddly disgusted when it came to public transport, and it annoyed the hell out of both you and Pieck. The man needed to be pampered all the time, and it was irritating beyond belief. 

“I can’t believe I’m even doing this,” Pieck said as Porco slid into the backseat, slamming the door closed behind him. He ran his fingers through his hair, pushing it back as far off of his forehead as he could.   
  
“I can’t believe after all these years you still haven’t learnt how to say no to him,” you replied, clicking your tongue at the passenger behind you, who was pulling on his seatbelt with haste.   
  
“I take what I can get,” Porco said. He slapped your headrest lightly with the back of his hand. “You know, Marlow doesn’t like taking the bus either.”  
  
“I see him on it all the time,” you answered, and Pieck nodded in confirmation.  
  
“He helps the driver unload skis when it’s icy,” she said. “Maybe you should take note of his efforts.”  
  
Porco rolled his eyes, waving the two of you off. “Yeah yeah, I’ve got it.”  
  
“Got what?” You asked. 

“Don’t make me say it.”  
  
“You have to,” Pieck urged.   
  
He let out a heavy groan. “Fine. I guess I’m a little picky.”  
  
“A little?” You exchanged a look with Pieck, who bit back her laughter. “Porky, you’re damn near impossible!”  
  
His eyes narrowed. “I told you not to call me that.”  
  
“But Pieck still can?”  
  
“Nobody can,” he answered. “And you want to talk about impossible? Weren’t you just complaining about that asshole from your old high school?”  
  
You propped your elbow up on the window, your cheekbone resting against your knuckles. “Unfortunately.”  
  
“Um, yes, it is unfortunate. Pieck and I were the ones that had to hear you bitch and moan for three hours.”  
  
You let out a scoff, head snapping towards the window. “You’re the one that decided to come over for dinner unannounced.”  
  
“I wouldn’t call it dinner,” Porco said, tipping his head at the thought. “Those fries were burnt to a crisp.”  
  
“Do you want to walk?” Pieck glanced at him in the rearview mirror, her lips in a tight line. Porco frowned, looking away, but he shut up, much to your relief.   
  
The rest of the drive was fairly silent, and you were grateful for it, granted that you hadn’t slept much the night before. It was another day with Eren, and you weren’t in the least bit prepared. All you wanted to do was spend the day bothering Porco, or finding new routes with Reiner and Colt. You didn’t want a  _ shadow  _ following your every move, especially if said shadow’s name was Eren Yeager. 

“Busy today,” Pieck commented as you drove through the parking lot. You nodded, watching the groups of people line up for the gondola, tugging at their helmets and doing last minute checks over their gear. There was a slight line for the Gondola, but you were still an hour early, so you didn’t have to worry about time. Pieck and you just liked to hang around the lodge chatting with other staff members and bothering Levi. Well, the latter was mostly your doing, but Pieck sometimes took part.  
  
“I can’t believe Colt bailed on me,” Porco muttered as he climbed out of the backseat. “Now I’m stuck with  _ you _ .”  
  
“He literally had this appointment booked for Falco for like… months,” you answered, giving the man a look as you rolled up the cuffs of your snow pants to put on your boarding boots.   
  
He scowled. “Well  _ I  _ didn’t know about it.”  
  
“You don’t listen when other people are talking, Porky,” Pieck said softly as she closed the driver’s side door. He gave her a look, but didn’t fire back a reply. You couldn’t help but smile to yourself as you laced up your boots. 

“Oh, look who it is.”  
  
You glanced up, fingers halting. Eren stood a few feet away from you, hands shoved into the pockets of his dark hoodie. He didn’t look ready for boarding, instead appeared as if he was going on a late night stroll some time in the middle of Autumn. He had on a pair of brown chinos, fitted at the ankles, and heavy black boots. Were they Doc Martens? They better not have been Doc Martens; you couldn’t wear those kinds of shoes to the fucking ski hill.

You finished lacing the boots quickly, then straightened, your jaw tightening as your eyes levelled with his. He wasn’t wearing the beanie you had seen him in before, but instead his hair was pulled back into a low bun, a few strands falling into his eyes. 

“You’re here early,” you said, eyeing him up. Where was his board? His helmet? His jacket? Literally every single piece of gear?

“Thought you’d love to spend the extra hour with me,” he said, nonchalant.   
  
“You’re sorely mistaken.”

“Am I?” He frowned. “I could’ve sworn you wanted my company. I know how lonely you can get.” He leaned forward, a gruff laugh passing through his lips. “You haven’t changed.”  
  
“Asshole,” you muttered, stepping away from him and grabbing your bag from the car. Pieck’s car. Pieck. And Porco.   
  
You whipped your head around. They were staring at you, Porco peering skeptically at Eren. Pieck caught your eye, giving you a look of confusion, and the back of your neck went warm. Wow, what a way for them to be introduced.  
  
“Oh,” you mumbled, taking yet another step away from Eren. “This is Eren. And uh- this is Pieck and that’s Porco.” You pointed to the two of them, the back of your throat going dry. You hadn’t wanted them to even meet him, and yet there they were, watching you bicker with him like a middle-schooler.  
  
“Hey,” Eren took one hand out of his pocket to raise it in greeting. “How’s it goin’?”  
  
“You’re the new guy, right?” Porco asked, hoisting his board out of the trunk.   
  
Eren nodded. “Yep. Started yesterday.”

“Has Y/N been nice to you?” 

“Porco,” you snapped, slamming your door. “Not funny.”  
  
Eren laughed, boots crunching as he walked around the side of the car.

“She’s been _lovely_. Fantastic, actually.”  
  
“Screw you.”  
  
“It’s a compliment.” He raised one hand in defense, and then his eyes scanned over Pieck. She gave him a half-smile. She was too nice to ignore him, as much as you wished she would’ve. She knew about the history that you and Eren had, and she sided with you, but she wasn’t going to be upfront and rude with a coworker. She was your best friend, and you trusted her enough to tell her everything. 

Well. Almost everything. 

“Have you guys been working here a while?” Eren asked.   
  
You grabbed your board, starting towards the gondola. Pieck matched your pace, but Poroc strided beside Eren, glancing at him out of the corner of his eye.   
“About five or six years now,” Porco said, nodding to himself. “I think.”  
  
“Roughly three,” Pieck answered, giving you a soft smile. “A few months before Y/N started.”

“Ah sweet,” Eren said.  
  
“Lucky them, huh?” You glanced back at him.  
  
Pieck bumped your shoulder. “Lucky us.”  
  
“Yeah but Y/N’s a real pain in the ass sometimes,” Porco admitted.   
  
You spun around, slowing your pace as you continued to walk backwards, your lips tugging into a grin. Porco raised one brow, and Eren smirked.    
“It seems like everyone here really doesn’t like me,” you commented, then let out a long, exaggerated sigh. “I guess it’s time for me to go.”  
  
“That would be very nice,” Porco said. “Maybe Eren can take your spot for good.”  
  
Your lips pressed into a firm line. Pieck turned to look at you, her eyes searching your face for any sign of distress. 

“You better watch out Y/N,” Eren said, dropping his head to the side. He had a mocking tone in his voice, and his eyes affirmed the hostility. 

“I’ve been here years, Yeager,” you said, turning back around. “I have superiority and you know it.”

“I might just go to that supervisor of yours and have a few words.”  
  
“Good luck with that,” Porco muttered.  
  
You scoffed. “You don’t have the balls to talk to him.”  
  
Eren snickered. “Is that so?”  
  
“Fortune favours the brave,” Pieck said. “You should get to Levi first.”

“Thanks Pieck, at least  _ someone  _ is backing me up here.” You shot a look at Porco, who laughed, exchanging a look with Eren. So Jean liked him, and now Porco. Good God, you couldn’t have anything for yourself.   
  
“Where the hell is your stuff?” You asked suddenly. You had reached the gondola line, and Porco waved at some other employee by the information desk. 

“Someone else has it. We were looking for our friend Mikasa, but I think she went up before us.” Eren ran his palm over his jaw, searching the crowd of people that had gathered in the line. “Ah, there he is. Armin!”  
  
Eren waved his hand wildly in the air, grabbing the attention of a blonde sitting on one of the wooden benches. He was scrolling through his phone, but he tucked it away as he heard Eren’s calls. You frowned. Great. Yet another pain in the ass guy to deal with.   
  
“This guy ain’t all that bad,” Porco muttered, leaning in. “You’re just stubborn.”  
  
“For good reasons,” you whispered back, elbowing him. “Stop breathing down my neck.”  
  
“We better line up,” Pieck said, lightly pulling on your jacket. You nodded, pushing away from Porco, who narrowed his eyes at you.   
  
“You find her?” The blonde--Armin--turned to Eren, handing over a black backpack and snowboard. Eren took the belongings, swinging the backpack over his shoulder.   
  
“She’s up there already,” he said, flicking his head at the gondola. “Let’s head up.”  
  
“Alright,” Armin said, letting out a huff. He had a pair of expensive looking blue and white skis, and he hoisted them up into his arms as he got into line. Eren’s snowboard jabbed at your ankles, but you ignored him, instead turning to Pieck.  
  
“Annie suggested we could get drinks when Bertholdt is working,” she said, keeping your voice low. “Maybe sometime this weekend?”

You tipped your head in thought. “I’ll consider it.”  
  
“That’s a yes,” she said, bumping her shoulder with yours. “Annie doesn’t have the social battery, and I’m not going to let you work any more than you have to.”  
  
You groaned. “For real? You can’t control that.”  
  
She smiled. “I can try. It’s just like Levi said, you’re tiring yourself out.”  
  
“God.” You rolled your eyes. “I don’t have time for drinks.”  
  
“Drinks?” Porco piped up. “When?”  
  
You glanced back, looking between the three. Eren had pulled on his usual beanie, and Armin was fiddling with his jacket, struggling to hold up his skis.   
  
“Need a hand?” You asked, reaching out to take them from him. He looked up momentarily, then let them go, unzipping his coat. 

“Thanks,” he said, pulling out his lift card. “I need to attach this to a pocket or something. It’s a pain to find.”

“Yeah,” you agreed, passing back his skis. “I had mine on my phone for a while.”

“Oh smart,” Armin remarked. “I’ll do that for next time. I’m just worried that I’ll forget to zip the pocket back up and lose it on the hill.”  
  
You nodded. “Fair enough. I’m careful about my phone too.”  
  
“Until you break it,” Eren said, giving you a knowing look, and you groaned.  
  
“God, that was one fucking time,” you said, dropping your voice. “I’m cautious.”  
  
He laughed. “You don’t seem so cautious.”  
  
“What happened?” Porco interjected.  
  
You waved him off. “Nothing.”  
  
“Y/N dropped their phone down a flight of stairs in school and the screen shattered everywhere.” He shook his head as if he was recalling the memory. “Classic.”  
  
“That’s not funny,” you snapped. “You were the one that kicked it!”

“You guys went to school together?” Armin asked, glancing between the two of you. He had bright blue eyes. Beautiful eyes. 

“Unfortunately,” you said, placing your board in the gondola rack. Porco followed, and Pieck brought her own board in. You didn’t know why you expected Armin and Eren to go in the next gondola, but Eren slid in across from you, kicking your feet out of his way. 

“Y/N was quite the charmer in high school,” Eren said, placing his bag in his lap. “She liked to kiss the teacher’s ass.”  
  
Porco let out a snort. “You never told me that.”  
  
“Because it’s not true!” You argued, jabbing your boot at Eren’s shins. “At least I was well behaved. You were always in the office.”  
  
He gave you an unimpressed glance, forehead creasing. “That was what, five times?”  
  
“Five more than me.”  
  
“I got detention once,” Pieck chimed, and Porco’s jaw dropped.  
  
“You did?”  
  
“Mhm.” She smiled, meeting his gaze. “Annie got in a fight with an older student and I took the blame because I didn’t want her dad to get angry with her.” 

“That doesn’t count,” Eren said, offering her a smile. “That’s something nice.”  
  
“You’re a little rough around the edges sometimes,” Armin directed at Eren. 

“Sometimes?” You repeated, forcing a laugh. “That might be a little off.”  
  
“Okay, maybe all the time,” Armin rephrased. 

“Hey! You’re meant to be defending me.”  
  
“Rough around the edges, huh?” Porco asked, leaning back. “What are you, a criminal?”  
  
“According to Y/N I am.” Eren gestured to you, and you scowled at him.

“I’m guessing you guys didn’t get along in high school?” Armin asked, glancing between the two of you. 

You suddenly went warm. You had told Pieck and Porco so much about Eren--hell, even Levi knew--but yet Armin didn’t know anything about you? It was stupid to think that Eren would’ve actually regarded you after he moved from Marley. Of course he didn’t; you hated each other. He had clearly moved on from everything that happened, and yet you were still holding that grudge. Or maybe Eren was just really good at hiding his emotions, although you doubted that he had gotten his anger under control. It wasn’t something that was easy for him, and you hated that you knew that. 

“Fuck,” you muttered, zipping up your coat. “No, we never got along.”  
  
“Still don’t,” Eren replied casually, fingers fiddling with the straps of his backpack.   
  
“Clearly,” Pieck whispered. 

You tried not to talk to Eren too much on the ride up, and to some degree, you found it difficult. Porco was more chatty than usual, and Pieck--naturally being kind--didn’t stray away from conversation. Armin seemed like a nice guy too, and of course Eren was wrapped up into it all. You were still in disbelief from the fact that he was even back in Marley, but you tried to just keep calm and roll with it. Guess Eren wasn’t the only one that needed assistance controlling his emotions.   
  
You parted ways with Porco and Pieck once you reached the top, and Armin said he was going off to find Mikasa (you assumed she was the friend Eren was looking for earlier). 

Once you had clocked in and said a quick hello to Levi, you started getting geared up. 

“You got a screwdriver?” Eren asked as you pulled on your helmet.   
  
“There should be one in that cabinet by the stairs.” You pointed. “Did you fuck up your board?”  
  
“No,” he answered, shooting you a grin. “I just want to try and ruin your day.”

“Wonderful,” you replied bluntly, snapping your snowskirt around your waist. Eren crossed the room, grabbing the screwdriver, then started down the steps. You shook your head, dropping your phone into your pocket before pulling on your gloves.   
  
Levi entered the lounge carrying a stack of papers. He muttered to himself as he flipped through them, then glanced up, doing a double-take when he recognized who it was in front of him.  
  
“Hey,” he said shortly. “Where’s Eren?”  
  
“Fixing his board I think.”  
  
Levi looked down at the papers once more before starting towards you. He smacked the stack lightly against your shoulder. “I saw you took another one of Reiner’s shifts.”

It was true, but you thought that you were sly enough not to get caught. Reiner had gone to visit Marcel the week before, but he wanted to go visit his mom on Wednesday, which meant that he wouldn’t be able to do his late afternoon shift. You offered to take it, and somehow your bastard of a supervisor was just so fucking nosy.   
  
“Damn, I thought you wouldn’t find out.”  
  
“You just took one last week. The hell is wrong with you?”  
  
“How did you even find that out?” You clicked your tongue. “Snooping around.” He let out a sigh, running his fingers down the side of his face, then across his jaw. The bags beneath his eyes had darkened, and you felt a pang of guilt.   
  
“Y/N, I’m-”  
  
“I’m sorry,” you said. “I didn’t mean it. I know you’re just looking out for me.”  
  
His lips pressed together, eyes narrowing. He wasn’t impressed with you, and you knew that, yet you still continued to fight it. Goddammit, you needed to get your shit together.   
  
“Don’t do that again,” he said, waving the papers at you. “You won’t get away with it.”  
  
“We’re both stubborn though.”  
  
He frowned. “Unfortunately.”  
  
“Y/N get your lazy ass down here!” Eren called, skipping up the steps. He hopped up onto the landing, his expression faltering when he saw who you were with. “Oh- sorry.”  
  
“Get to work,” was all that Levi said.   
  
  


***

It would’ve been nice if an avalanche would’ve rushed down and taken you out of your misery. You had been doing the boxes for over two hours, and Eren decided that he was going to take it upon himself to try and reshape the ramp that led to one of them. 

“You fucking- oh my god.” You dropped your head back, letting out a long groan. “How did you even manage to do that?”  
  
The snow was packed, completely packed solid in order for riders to get up onto the features, but Eren had gone and somehow fucking crumbled all the snow on the left side. He looked up at you with a lopsided grin, then shrugged. 

“Oops?”

“Shit,” you whispered, grabbing the shovel from his hand. “Were you trying to beat the thing to death? My god, you don’t need to smack it!”  
  
“I wasn’t!” Eren argued, getting to his feet. “I fucking wasn’t. It wasn’t packed very tight.”  
  
You glared at him. “I think it was.”  
  
“Well you thought wrong,” he replied as you began to reshape the snow. You weren’t even sure how it was possible to do such a thing, but Eren was pretty fucked up, so you didn’t put it past him. 

“You should be lucky you’re not with Reiner right now,” you muttered. “If he saw this mess he would lose his motherfuckin’ shit.”  
  
“That’s what you’re doing now.”  
  
“It’s not,” you huffed. “Get me the rake.”  
  
Eren handed it over. You continued to pack and press the snow, feeling your skin burning with rage. You just wanted to make it through the day without any complications, was that too much to ask for? Apparently, because Eren was either useless or wrong.   
  
“Oh hey!” Someone called from up the hill, and you looked in the direction of the voice.  
  
“Armin!” Eren yelled. “And aye! You found Mikasa!”  
  
Armin rode down toward where you were, a girl with a red jacket following closely behind. You were pretty sure that you had seen her on the park before, but then again snowboarding gear often looked similar. 

“How’s it going?” Armin asked, turning his skis to the side to stop himself. He looked at Eren, then over at you, raising one pole to wave.   
  
“Hey,” you replied, straightening with a groan. Your back was beginning to ache, but that was expected. The long hours and constant grooming didn’t help your joints, and then there was the odd time that you wiped out on some tree route, throwing out your neck or shoulder. You squeezed your bicep, hoping to relieve some of the tension on your muscles.   
  
Eren pulled off his goggles.  
  
“We’re alright,” he said. “Y/N made a bit of a mess, so…” He gestured to the ramp, and you pursed your lips, leaning on the shovel.  
  
“Actually, your friend over here doesn’t know what he’s doing,” you said to Armin, who laughed. “He makes me clean up after him.”  
  
“Funny, because he does that at home too,” Armin said, and Eren shook his head.

“You’re really snitching on me today, Armin.”  
  
“It’s about time someone called you out for your bad habits,” Mikasa said bluntly, earning an eye roll from Eren. 

“You left the iron on last night too,” Armin said. “After you waxed your board?”  
  
“Yikes.” You winced. “You have to live with him?”

“It’s only bad half of the time.”  
  
“Maybe two out of seven days of the week,” Mikasa added.  
  
You didn’t know who she was, but you liked Mikasa already. She had a sort of badass aura about her, and you were certain now that you had seen her before. She was pretty good at her park tricks, and the fact that she dissed on Eren just made it all the better.   
  
“I feel very violated,” Eren mumbled. “Y/N, let’s get back to work.”  
  
“I could use a break,” you said, looking down at the ramp. “This is fucking pain.”  
  
“I’m telling Levi you said that.” Eren pointed at you. “Because he’ll fire you for sure.”  
  
You rolled your eyes. “As if.”  
  
“I might head up Shiganshina,” Mikasa said, then turned her attention to you. “Is the snow good up there today?”  
  
You tilted your head side to side. “Mm, not terrible, but it’s a bit rocky.”  
  
Mikasa hummed, then looked behind her. “Well, maybe over to Stohess.” 

“I’ll come,” Armin said, raising a pole. “When are you finished, Eren?”  
  
“Three.”  
  
“Okay, we’ll probably still be around. The hill closes at five right?”  
  
“Five-thirty,” you answered. “They start packing things up around five though.” 

“Alright,” Armin said, pointing his skis down the hill. “See you later."  
  
“Yeah,” Eren replied, watching them leave. Armin hit a few rails with surprising ease, and Mikasa did a few 180’s.   
  
“I feel bad for them,” you said, shaking your head as you got back to work.   
  
“Why’s that?”  
  
“They have to spend their time with you.”  
  
“I think they do that by choice.”  
  
“I find that very hard to believe.”  
  
He laughed. “Do you now? At one point, it was all you ever did.”  
  
You grip tightened around the shovel, and you jammed it into the snow. Even though you were wearing your helmet and goggles, you worried about him seeing your expression. You didn’t want him to witness the look on your face, because if you were to so much as make eye contact with him, you were sure that he would receive a clean blow across the jaw. And it would be the second time that you had hit him. You didn’t want to ever touch him again.   
  
“We’ll go in for lunch soon,” you said sharply, grabbing the rake from his hands and smoothing out the snow. “I need a break.”  
  
“Whatever you say, Y/N.” 

You tried to take as long as you could in the cafeteria line, and then even longer in the changerooms. You ate up in the lounge by the fire, and thankfully Eren had wandered off, but you still checked over your shoulder every five minutes to see if he was approaching. You were so done with him, and you were one more foul interaction away from storming up to Levi again. But you had to compose yourself, because looking back, you were quite embarrassing.   
  
When the break was over, you headed back up the Trost chair, and walked Eren through tending to the fences once more. A few signs had gotten ripped down, and you put them back up, making sure that everything was intact and safe for the riders. Eren still continued to be an ass, and you didn’t even care if you were worse than him, you just wanted to distance yourself. 

Had you ever actually hurt his feelings like he hurt yours? 

You were relieved when the shift ended, and even more excited when you realized you had an extra hour before you had to catch the bus back to town. Pieck’s lessons finished after lunch, so she had driven back to Marley, but you were pretty sure that Porco was still lurking about somewhere. You were just about to text him to see where he was at when Armin sprung up in front of you.   
  
“Hey,” he said, and you met his gaze, lowering your phone.   
  
“Oh hey,” you said, glancing behind him to see if Eren was around, but he appeared to be alone. “You’re still here?”  
  
“Yeah,” Armin said, raising his goggles. “You probably just finished, but we’re heading up to Stohess if you want to come.”  
  
“We?”  
  
“Eren, Mikasa and I.”

“Ah, I don’t know,” you said, rocking back on your heels. You didn’t want to hurt his feelings; he seemed like a nice guy, but you just really didn’t want to spend extra time with Eren. “I don’t know if I can tonight.”

“That’s all good,” Armin said, shooting you a grin. “Just thought I’d offer.”  
  
“Hey! Y/N!”  
  
“Oh, Porco,” you said, spinning around. He strode towards you, his board tucked under his arm. “I was just about to text you.”  
  
“What about?”  
  
Shit. Definitely not to see if he wanted to go for a few laps around Stohess. Definitely, definitely not. 

“Uh- nothing. Never mind.”

“Alright.” He shrugged. “Hey man. What’s up?”  
  
“I was just seeing if Y/N wanted to go for a few laps before the hill shuts,” Armin said, and you knew that you were done for. Porco could be so oblivious, and of course he was going to agree with Armin. He probably hadn’t even put two and two together and realized that Eren was the douchebag from high school that you talked oh-so-much about.  
  
“I’ve got some time,” Porco said, elbowing you. “You going?”  
  
“I don’t know… I’ve got some things I’ve gotta do.”  
  
“And how are you going to get to them?” He gave you a quizzical look. “The next bus isn’t for another hour.”  
  
_ Thanks a fucking lot, Porco.  _

“Well I guess I have time for a few.”

“Atta girl,” he said, giving Armin a nod of affirmation. “Let’s hit it.”  
  
“Great,” Armin said, grabbing his skis from the rack. He gave you and Porco a smile before weaving through the crowd, heading up for the Stohess hill. It was one with harder runs on it, and probably your favourite tree routes. At least they hadn’t suggested the Shiganshina chair, because then your situation would’ve been a whole lot worse.    
“What were you saying about drinks earlier?” Porco asked as you strapped one foot onto your board.  
  
“Annie suggested it,” you said. “One night when Bertholdt is working.”  
  
“Oh yeah,” he said, pulling down his coat. “I haven’t seen that guy in ages.”  
  
“We went to a good place the other day,” Armin said. “What was it called again?”  
  
“Something with an M,” Eren said, clipping his boot in.   
  
“Mageth’s,” Mikasa answered, and Armin nodded, a grin of recognition breaking out across his face.

“That’s it,” he said, turning to you and Porco. “Have you been there?”  
  
You shook your head, but Porco piped up. “Yeah, Colt and I have been a few times. Good place.”  
  
“Little noisy though,” Eren commented.  
  
“I bet your loud mouth really contributed nicely to the mix,” you snapped. 

He cocked his head, and although you couldn’t see his eyes, you knew he was glaring at you. “That’s a good one, Y/N. Thank you.”  
  
You sat with Porco on the way up, and you tried your best to avoid Eren as you slid off the chair, your eyes trained on the hill below.  
  
“Bet you’re gonna love this Porco,” you said. “Look at all these black diamonds.” You paused. “And tree routes.”  
  
“Ah fuck off,” he muttered, clipping in his other boot. “Forget I said any of that.”  
  
You grinned, and Armin slid up beside you and Porco, glancing down the slope.

“Where do you guys wanna head?” He asked, then turned to Mikasa and Eren. “Thoughts?”  
  
“Not that one with the drop-off,” Mikasa said, shaking her head. “The snow was bad there.”  
  
“Trees?” Eren suggested. “And maybe Y/N can be a little more careful.”  
  
You ignored him, pulling Porco to his feet. “Sounds good to me.”  
  
“Okay,” Armin said, and then without a second glance, he sped off towards the trees, skis gliding through the snow. Mikasa shot right after him, and then Eren, and finally you and Porco. 

You weaved around Porco, and he did a 360 on one of the piles to your right, landing effortlessly in front of you. As you neared the trees you slowed down ever so slightly, making sure that no one was coming from the other way before racing through the thin trail. A few feet to your left you could see Eren hitting jumps, his board flying up through the air and landing with a soft thump. As the trees got thicker you picked up your pace, weaving and twisting to avoid branches and roots. Porco hooted from behind you, and you grinned against your face mask, feeling the wind pull at your jacket and pants.   
  
“Be careful!” Eren yelled from your left, and the two of you went flying out of the trees. He sped ahead of you, racing for the jump that you were going to hit. You swore, swerving to the right to cross over some moguls. Eren paid no mind to you as he hit the jump, clearing a decent amount of snow before he hit the ground, legs barely wobbling from impact. 

You hit your own jump just off of the moguls, grabbing onto your board as you spun a 360 through the air. Your landing was slightly sketchy, but you had braced your knees for the impact, so you recovered quickly. It all happened within less than three minutes, and before you knew it you were back at the bottom of the hill, heaving in long breaths.    
“Aw Y/N,” Eren laughed as he stopped in front of you, snow spraying up against your clothes. “Did that one run tire you out?”  
  
“I was just getting started,” you shot back, and he chuckled, shaking his head.   
  
“Give it up.”  
  
“Try-hard,” you muttered just as Armin slid up beside Eren, spraying snow over the both of you. 

“Wicked,” he said, bobbing his head. “That was good.”  
  
“Few more?” Porco asked, looking at you for reassurance. “If we want to catch the five o’clock bus, that is.”  
  
“Yeah,” you said, determined to prove Eren wrong. “Sounds good.

When you made it to the top Eren slid down beside you, stopping your board from moving forward. When you tried to move he halted you by holding out a hand.    
“Now, are you actually ready for this?” He asked. “Because I’m not so sure if you have enough energy left.”  
  
“I could do this all fucking day,” you shot, then added, “dickhead.”  
  
“Whatever you say, Y/N.”  
  
With that, he hopped forward, glancing back over his shoulder before speeding ahead. You got to your feet quickly, jumping to flip your board forward. You glided smoothly along the snow, trying to pick up as much speed as you could. You kept a keen eye on Eren, but pulled a few tricks of your own. You cut him off in the middle of the run by snapping onto toeside, forcing him to dart over to the right in an attempt to avoid you. It also caused him to slow down, and he let out a string of curses. 

“You bitch!” He shouted, and you laughed loud enough for him to hear, speeding towards the bottom.   
  
Armin came in hot from your right, and you wobbled slightly as you turned away from him, heading back through the trees.    
You loved the thrill of the pace. In your mind, it was freeing. Your brother Will was the one that always wanted to hit everything at the highest speed, with the biggest jump, and the best trick. He was never a showoff to you because it was just so  _ cool _ , and you constantly wanted to watch more of his tricks. He loved the trees, and so you had grown to love them too. 

Unfortunately Eren had the same idea, and when he shot out behind you, you let out a frustrated laugh.   
  
“Tired yet?” He called.

And the hour continued like that, right up until Porco announced that you were going to “damn near miss the bus if you didn’t pay attention”. He was right, because it was roughly a ten minute ride back down on the gondola, and the bus seats filled up pretty fast. You would have to move quick, so you finished up your last run and hurriedly grabbed the rest of your things from inside. 

“Let’s move,” Porco said as you exited the lodge carrying the rest of your belongings.  
  
“Where’d Armin and them go?”  
  
“A few more runs. Armin has a car.”  
  
That was a relief, because as soon as you stepped into the gondola, the stress of the day caught up to you. You sunk down on the bench, letting your head drop back against the glass.  
  
“You okay?” Porco asked, pulling out his phone.   
  
“Yeah, just tired,” you said, closing your eyes and letting out a sigh.   
  
“I’m telling Levi you said that.”  
  
“Do it. He’s always right, even when he’s wrong,” you said quietly, and Porco laughed. “You seemed to get along well with Eren.”  
  
Porco was silent for a moment. The gondola cabin rocked back and forth in the wind, and you could hear the trees creaking and moaning from outside. You kept your eyes closed, listening to the sounds and steadying your breathing.   
  
“He doesn’t seem like a bad dude,” Porco said slowly. “But--as much as I hate to admit it--you’re my friend first.” You opened one eye. “I’ve gotta trust what you say is true.”   
“I think that’s one of the nicest things you’ve ever said to me.”  
  
“But I do think that you’re overreacting quite a bit,” he added, and the corners of your mouth turned up in a small smile.

“I knew there was a catch,” you mumbled.   
  
“You fight with everyone,” Porco continued. “It’s hard to tell who you actually argue with for real.”  
  
“Are you claiming our fights are fake?”  
  
He smiled. “Of course not. You know I wish I had never met you.”

“Well aren’t you lucky.” 

“You haven’t really told me everything that happened between you, right?” He asked. The question took you by surprise, but you knew that it was bound to come up eventually.    
You sighed. “No. I haven’t even told everything to Pieck.”  
  
“Are you going to?”  
  
“I don’t know.”  
  
“Okay,” he hummed. “Do what you want. But don’t drag me into this mess; I’d like to keep my job if that’s okay.”  
  
“That’s fine.”

The cabin continued to rock, and your head dropped to the side, feeling especially heavy after the long day. Porco brought up the drinks with Annie once more, but you brushed him off, saying that you would think about it. The thought would most likely slip to the back of your mind, but you remembered Levi’s words about taking a rest, and you weren’t even really sure what he meant at all. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hopefully another chapter will be out sunday night!   
> thank you for reading:))) as always, comments and feedback are appreciated <3


	5. liar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You thought it,” he answered, pointing at you. “You’re not a very good liar either.”
> 
> You scoffed, turning away from him. “And how would you know that?”
> 
> “Oh come on,” he derided, dropping his head back. “You act like I don’t know you!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hiiiiii guys!  
> back again with another chapter! i was actually excited to write this one. it's pretty important for the plot, but tbh i don't even know what the plot is. i only have some general ideas and manbun eren. 
> 
> quickly tho i have something important to say!  
> im writing a few other things that i want to post on here sometime soon, including a haikyuu au set during WWIII. sounds a bit whack but im super excited for it so updates on this fic might be a liiiiitttle slower.   
> anyways... enjoy!

**Two and a half years ago.  
  
**

“What’s this?” Connie asked, looking up from his phone. Marco had caught his attention at the word ‘party’; everything before that had been irrelevant. 

“Well, a small party. Nothing too fancy,” Marco said, not irritated in the slightest about having to repeat himself. 

“Fancy?” Connie’s brows shot up. He stuffed his phone into his coat pocket, a grin stretching across his face. “Fuck  _ fancy _ . I want to get blasted!”

“Whoa now.” Marco laughed, shaking his head. “It’s not going to be a rager or anything.”  
  
The bell rang, and Connie started heading towards the main doors. He knocked his elbow against Marco’s as he walked. “C’mon man. There hasn’t been a solid party in a while.”  
  
“You just haven’t been invited,” you answered, and the boy flipped you the bird.   
  
“Y/N, you shouldn’t be talking,” he said. “You skip out on every group event to go snowboarding.”  
  
“Is there a problem?” You snickered, not allowing him to answer. “That’s what I thought.”  
  
“Can I ask Sasha?”   
  
“Sure. I was going to invite her anyway.”  
  
Connie grinned. “Sweet.”

Marco wasn’t the best guy to host a party. He was just too… nice. He always made sure to put all the expensive things away, and he kept his mom’s plants in another room. And that was about it. Once people started getting really tipsy things went South, and Marco wouldn’t do a single thing about it. Once for letting some guy throw a dinner plate across the kitchen like a frisbee, and instead of yelling at the guy, Ymir scolded Marco for letting it happen. It didn’t end well, and Marco came close to tears, but he didn’t have the next party until seven months after that. 

You were scared for the night. Even though Marco said it would just be the student council plus a few others, you knew that the word would spread, and some random teens would show up at the door, demanding to be let in. And Marco--of course--would do it.

“Eren’s coming for sure,” Marco said, his voice dropping to a whisper as Connie strode on ahead. “You’re okay with that, right?”  
  
“Marco, I’m pretty sure we had this conversation yesterday. I said it’s okay.”  
  
“I know, but I just want you to have a good time.”  
  
You smiled. “Thank you.”  
  
He grinned back, eyes crinkling. “Of course. And if he tries anything funny, just tell me. I know how he can get when he's drunk.”  
  
You sucked in a breath, your fingers tightening around your backpack straps. Marco pushed open the main heavy door, holding it open as you stepped outside. The cool air bit the exposed skin of your neck. Maybe it was the cold, or maybe it was the thought of Eren drunk, but you shivered, tucking your chin into your coat.   
  
“It’ll be fine,” you said, more to yourself than Marco. “I’m sure of it. Last time was…” You trailed off. You didn’t want to think about what had happened at the last party. “That won’t happen again.”  
  
“It better not,” Marco said firmly. “I’ll make sure to keep him under control.”  
  
You knew that he wouldn’t, but it was comforting to hear. 

“Thanks Marco, I appreciate it.”  
  
“Anytime,” he answered, pulling his keys out of his pocket. The honk of his car unlocking came from your right, and you shuffled towards the vehicle. Marco hopped into the driver's seat, and you slammed the door as you climbed inside.

“He asked if you were coming, you know.”

Your fingers hovered over the seatbelt. “Huh?”  
  
“Mhm,” Marco said, adjusting the rear view mirror. “He didn’t seem particularly enthusiastic, but he still asked.” 

You rolled your eyes. “I would’ve done the same.”  
  
“Have you guys talked?”  


“Huh?”  
  
“Don’t play dumb. Have you two actually talked recently?”

Your gaze fell to the floor as you clicked in the belt. Marco watched you, but said nothing. He probably knew the answer before he had even asked it. He wanted you to admit it to yourself. No, you hadn’t actually talked to Eren in a while, and you didn’t plan to. You believed that if you just ignored him--didn’t acknowledge his behaviour-- he would realize that things were never going to work, and hopefully he would leave you alone.

But you were wrong.

***

**Present time.**

  
You had gotten to the hill fairly early--at least way earlier than your shift--solely because Porco had asked you to. He worked at noon, but he wanted to take a few laps around Stohess before he was scheduled. You agreed, eager to get back to your joyrides, but Colt’s car broke down on the highway, leaving Porco confused and you unimpressed. Did Porco even know what to do? Did the man even know how to properly drive? 

You were going to continue your boarding while he was gone, but Jean had also arrived early for his shift, meaning that the two of you could ride a few laps together. 

“Bastard,” Jean muttered upon hearing about Porco. “I didn’t think Colt trusted him with the car.”

You laughed. “He doesn’t.”  
  
“He’s gonna be  _ real _ upset when he hears about this one.” Jean whistled, bumping his skis together to clear them of snow.  
  
The two of you were lined up for the Stohess lift, and you waved over at Marlow, who was lift attendant for the day.   
  
“I’m back on the old beasts!” Jean exclaimed, and Marlow laughed.   
  
“What, have you really not been skiing much lately?”

“Nope,” Jean answered. “I’ve been having a few drinks.” He paused. “Maybe more than a few.”  
  
“Shut up,” you muttered, laughing under your breath. “If Levi heard you talking like that he’d kill you.”  
  
“Talking like what?” Jean asked innocently as the chair scooped the two of you up. “I’m not in uniform. People don’t know who the hell is under this mask.” He pointed. “But I bet they can still tell he’s handsome.”  
  
You shoved him, rolling your eyes. “Please, as if. I think Porco is starting to rub off on you.”  
  
“I think I’m rubbing off on Porco.”  
  
You shook your head at him, adjusting your gloves. As you made it to the top you pulled out your phone, checking the time quickly. You still had about an hour.   
  
“We’ve really gotta-hey! Is that Eren?” Jean craned his neck, ski poles pressing into the snow as he peered over hats and helmets.  
  
“Is that who?” You asked, snapping your neck around. 

_ Great, just what I need. _

“Aye, Eren! Man!” Jean waved, and sure enough, Eren held up a hand in response. Of course he had to come up early as well. It was only natural that yet again you had to be interrupted by his presence.   
  
“Hey,” Eren said, hopping up towards where you and Jean stood. Armin glanced over, waving his pole slightly to greet you.   
  
“Damn bro, are you working today?” Jean asked, looking between you and Eren.  
  
“You bet.”  
  
“Wicked,” Jean said, looking back at you. “Which way?”  
  
You sighed, looking towards the blue trails, then the black diamonds. There were a few nice drops on one of the black runs, and you nodded in the general direction.   
  
“I want to hit those drops,” you said, swiping your glove over your goggles to clear away a few flakes of snow. Jean did the same.   
  
“Wicked,” he said. “Let’s get after it.”  
  
“A drop?” Armin asked, looking over at Eren. “Is that the one you were telling me about?”  
  
“Hell yeah,” Eren replied, hopping forward on his board. “Mind if we tag along?”  
  
You rolled your eyes, and Jean answered before you could even open your mouth. You could practically feel Eren’s hard gaze at your back as you took off down the hill. Snow sprayed out from under you as you cut sharp corners, weaving between trees. As you neared the drop you slowed, checking over your shoulder. You expected Jean to be at your side--he liked to try and beat you to it--but instead Eren slid up beside you, the tip of his board bumping against yours.   
  
“Morning,” he said shortly.

You peered over the edge, looking at the ground far below. It was maybe twenty or thirty feet, and not exactly a straight vertical, but it was one of the steeper cliffs on Stohess. Eren did the same, then whistled, letting out an airy laugh. 

“Looks good.”  
  
“It is,” you replied, swiping your glove over your goggles once more. You hadn’t even really noticed that it had started to snow, but it was coming down harder then. It would provide a bit of a softer landing, but it also made it harder for you to see where the cliff ended and the ground began.  
  
“Do you want to show me how a pro does a drop?” 

“Huh?”  
  
Eren shrugged. “You must be pretty good to assume that you’re better than me.”  
  
You frowned. “I never said that.”  
  
“You thought it,” he answered, pointing at you. “You’re not a very good liar either.”  
  
You scoffed, turning away from him. “And how would you know that?”  
  
“Oh come on,” he derided, dropping his head back. “You act like I don’t know you!”  
  
You let out a huff between grinding teeth. He didn’t know you. He may have thought that he did, but he didn’t. He didn’t know anything about you in high school, and he didn’t know anything about you then. He had no idea what had happened in the years that he was away, and you knew that telling him would only make matters worse. Even if you did explain, he wouldn’t be the least bit sympathetic. He was Eren; he didn’t fucking care.   
  
“You don’t know me,” you shot back, looking over the drop once again. You could see Jean gliding over one of the hills, picking up speed as he neared the two of you.   
  
“I think I do.”  
  
“You fucking don’t!” You fired, giving him a quick look over your shoulder. “I’m not the same person I was before.”  
  
“Oh, and when exactly was ‘before’? You mean, before we d-”  
  
“Hey!” Jean yelled. He stopped abruptly, causing snow to spray your front. You batted him away, thankful for the commotion. “I really thought you were going to do it without me.”  
  
“I was tempted,” you said, trying to keep your tone even. Eren was shaking his head in your peripheral vision, and you felt your ears burn. He was so insensitive. And to think that he was just about to bring up something that you both swore you would never talk about again. 

“This is the one?” Armin asked, sliding up beside you. Behind his goggles you could imagine him wincing; there was something in his posture that gave it away.   
  
“It’s a little high,” you said, chuckling.   
  
“You think?”   
  
“I think Y/N should go first,” Eren stated, and Jean hummed with agreement.   
  
“Hell yeah Y/N,” he urged. “You’ve gotta do it.”  
  
You grinned, fingers wiggling in your gloves. You didn’t have a problem with the drop, and you had to admit that having a crowd--especially Eren--motivated you to jump off the edge even more. 

“I think you should do it Armin,” you said, nudging him lightly. You didn’t want to seem too overeager.

He shook his head. “Doesn’t seem like something achievable for me.”  
  
“Aw c’mon man!” Eren encouraged. “You can do it.”  
  
“We take no pussies at this hill!” Jean added, and tried to stifle your laughter.   
  
“Jean,” you mumbled, biting down on your lip before turning to Armin. “It’s okay, you don’t have to.”  
  
“I’m fine with rails and shit, it’s just heights,” Armin said.

Eren clapped him on the shoulder, giving him a light shake. “S’okay, don’t worry about it.”   
  
You narrowed your eyes at Eren. If that was anyone else, he probably would’ve laughed before kicking them over the edge, but you could tell that him and Armin were close. Actually close. You hadn’t wanted to admit it, but from the little interaction that you had seen between them, it really appeared as if they had known each other forever. Maybe Eren met him while out in the boonies. 

“I’ll watch you guys,” Armin said, backing up slightly. “Then maybe I’ll give it a shot.”  
  
“No pressure,” you assured, holding up your hands. “You’re not a pussy.”  
  
“Hey now,” Jean argued, “it’s the hill rules.”  
  
“No such thing,” you muttered.   
  
“You can’t actually be worrying,” Eren said, but was more of an accusation than anything.   
  
“Worrying about what?”  
  
“Someone else,” Eren stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Y/N being supportive? Y/N being nice?”  
  
“Ah fuck off. Unlike you, your friend here hasn’t actually done anything wrong.”  
  
“Unlike me?” Eren asked, tilting his head.   
  
“I’m not perfect,” Armin muttered bashfully, his gaze falling to the ground.   
  
“Yes, unlike you,” you said, swallowing tightly. The snow had started to fall harder. It was getting cold. Your head hurt.  
  
“You’re unbelievable. Utterly shocking.”  
  
“I’m the unbelievable one?”  
  
Armin cleared his throat. “Okay guys, let’s just take it easy.”  
  
“Nono, be quiet,” Jean said. “I wanna see this.”  
  
You ignored him as you clenched your jaw, jabbing a finger towards Eren’s chest, but your gloves didn’t exactly permit it, so you ended up just shoving him with your fist instead. He rocked back on his board.   
  
“Do you have issues?” He asked, his voice raising. “What the hell is wrong with you? I haven’t seen you in over two years and you’re just as bitchy as you were before.”  
  
Your jaw dropped, and you curled and uncurled your fingers in your gloves. You knew that blowing up at him was a bad idea, especially since you had to work a shift together in less than forty minutes, but at that moment you didn’t care. 

“Roundhouse kick him!” Jean shouted, and you scowled at him, aware that he couldn’t even see your expression. You wanted Eren to though, so you pulled off your goggles, the snow and wind instantly whipping at your exposed skin. 

“I want nothing to do with you,” you said sharply. “And yet here you are, fucking up my life again. You just can’t leave me alone.”  
  
Eren laughed, shaking his head. He was acting as if you were pathetic, and you hated it. It’s how he used to treat you, back when you actually could stand each other.   
  
“Do you think I expected you to be here?” He asked, his tone levelling out once again. 

You squinted, your skin beginning to pinch from the cold. Armin and Jean were completely still behind him, and you wouldn’t have been surprised if Jean was secretly documenting the whole thing to tell Porco later. 

You shook your head. “I’m done.”  
  
“No Y/N, don’t quit!” Jean yelled, and you fired him a look before snapping your goggles back down. Your limbs felt heavy, and your head was worse. There was a pulsing behind your right eye, and you blinked quickly before letting out a shaky breath. Just make it down the hill, that was all you had to do. You could go to Levi and say that you weren’t feeling well, and someone else would have to assist Eren. You never missed shifts, but you didn’t know if you could take another seven hours with him. His words were all poison to you.

You neared the edge of the cliff, barely stopped before jumping down, your knees bracing for impact. The snow was softer than you thought it would be, but you still wobbled as you hit the bottom, arms shooting out to steady yourself. Snow sprayed up all around you, leaving behind a small white cloud as you shot down the hill. You didn’t look back until you reached the treeline. Eren had followed behind you, but both Jean and Armin lingered at the top, Armin peering over the side. You wanted to cheer him on, tell him that he would be fine, but Eren was coming up close.   
  
You flew down the hill. Your board was thrown into the rack as you darted into the lodge, yanking off your gloves and panting. You unclipped your helmet as you skipped the steps two at a time and as you hit the second floor you halted, eyes scanning the room in a panic. Levi’s door was closed, but you still flew towards it, not even bothering to knock before barreling in.   
  
He jumped when you entered, his tea sloshing over the sides of the mug he was holding. He cursed, neck snapping to look down at the mess on his shirt and pants. Slowly he placed the cup down on his desk, looking up at you with narrowed eyes and a clenched jaw.  
  
“I’m sorry-”  
  
“What do you want?” He snapped, throwing open one of his desk drawers and pulling out a box of tissues. A string of swears left his lips as he dabbed away at the liquid on his grey crewneck, shaking his head.  
  
“I’m sorry,” you repeated, closing the door softly. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”  
  
“Most times people knock. Normally they don’t barge through the door like a madman.”

Your neck went warm, and your gaze fell to the floor. Ah fuck, you’d really done it. Levi was pissed, and Eren was pissed, and you were pissed. And god, Jean and Armin…   
You groaned, causing Levi to look up at you once more.  
  
“Y/N, what the hell is it?”  
  
“I can’t do this,” you said. “I tried to help Eren, but he’s a lost cause.”  
  
Levi let out a heavy sigh, snatching up another handful of tissues. “You’ve only got a few days left. He should be ready to go soon.”  
  
“Soon isn’t good enough,” you muttered.   
  
“Stop whining,” Levi snapped, throwing the box back into his drawer and slamming it. “You’re on thin ice Y/N. Sometimes I desperately feel like I have to fire you for my own sanity.”  
  
You let out a half-hearted laugh, but your smile faded quickly. “So why haven’t you?”

He bowed his shoulders, hand swiping over his face. They settled against his cheekbone, and he tapped his index finger against his head, remaining silent. You moved across the room, slowly lowering yourself into one of his large, worn down armchairs. The clock behind him read 11:55am. Your shift was set to start in five minutes. Eren was definitely at the bottom of the hill, but you doubted he would go looking for you. Jean may have been curious, but he knew to give you space. 

Levi finally spoke. “Have you been sleeping?”  
  
“Is that your way of telling me I look tired?”  
  
He blinked. “Yes.”  
  
“Thanks.”  
  
His nose crinkled as he leaned back in his chair, giving you a once-over. “Do you really hate this guy that much?”  
  
“Yes.”  
  
“That’s not a very professional thing to say to your boss.”  
  
“You asked me first.”

“Hm.” His finger continued tapping against his hairline. He didn’t say anything for a while, and you continued to watch the clock above his head. The hands were moving painfully slow, but maybe that was a good thing. The more time that you had until your shift the better. You were still hoping that by some miracle Levi would let you out of it, but that would be very unlike him. Sometimes he surprised you though. Like the time when he fucking cut all of your hours without asking you first. But you were currently living through that, so yeah, maybe Levi had changed. 

“Do you want me to call him in here and make you two talk it out in front of me?”  
  
“You wouldn’t do that.”  
  
He snorted. “You don’t think so?”  


"Of course not."  
  
Yet again he changed the subject. “Have you talked to your parents recently?” You stiffed, your eyes averting from his own. “You’re a terrible liar, so don’t even try.”  
  
“Eren told me the same thing.”  
  
“Well at least he’s not stupid. Answer the question.”  
  
“No, not in a couple of weeks. They call sometimes though.”  
  
“And do you answer?”  
  
“No.”  
  
Levi rubbed his eyes. “Y/N, you’re not trying to get better.”  
  
“What the hell does that mean?”  
  
“It means exactly how it sounds. You’re not trying.”  
  
You scowled at him. “That’s rude.”

He returned your expression, reaching for his mug. “I don’t care. Why don’t you talk to them?”  
  
“It’s always the same bullshit,” you muttered, your fingers dancing over the armrest. “They ask about work and Pieck. They always finish by talking about Will.”   
Levi hummed, whispering something under his breath. He drank the rest of his tea, then slid the mug across his desk. It bumped against a picture frame, one that had been there since his first day. It was one of him and Erwin, and although he didn’t look overly enthusiastic, there was a hint of a smile on his face. You studied the photo while he studied you. 

“Are you still going to therapy?”  
  
You blinked at him, lips parting with shock. His expression remained the same: cold and hard, and you struggled to swallow as he watched you. “Well, I-”  
  
“Hey!” The door swung open. “I’m so sorry I’m late. There was- oh, hey Y/N.”  
  
You looked over your shoulder, brows raising at the man who had just burst into the room. One hand gripped the doorknob, and the other hovered over the frame.   
  
“Why does nobody know how to knock?” Levi muttered. 

You stood before Levi could say anything else. He wasn’t getting you out of your shift, and you could tell that the conversation was going somewhere that you didn’t like. Instead, you backed up towards Porco, giving Levi a tight smile.   
  
“Sorry about your tea,” you whispered, bumping into Porco.   
  
Levi didn’t answer, and as Porco closed the door his face twisted with skepticism. 

“What was that?” He asked as you turned away from him. “Don’t tell me you two are fighting again.”  
  
“It was nothing,” you muttered, rubbing your forehead. The headache was still there, but the pain had resided slightly, and you felt like you could breathe properly again.   
  
“You seem pissed.”  
  
You glanced back. “Sorry. I’m just tired.”

“I call bull,” Porco said, grabbing one of your shoulders and tilting you to face him better. “You sure you’re fine?”

You hesitated, forcing a smile and answering quietly, “he asked me if I was still going to therapy.”

Porco’s hand slid down your arm, barely grazing your fingers before he pulled away, shaking his head. “God, I know you know him well, but he can’t just go around asking that.”  
  
You shrugged. “Doesn’t really matter to me; I was just surprised.”  
  
Porco was silent. It was 12:10, but neither of you made a move to clock in. Eren hadn’t shown up either, but maybe he had gone and done it while you were still in Levi’s office. 

“I don’t mean for this to be rude or anything,” Porco started, shifting uncomfortably behind you. “But are-”  
  
“No,” you cut him off, “I stopped a few months ago.”  
  
“Oh,” he said quietly. “Why?”  
  
You pulled your helmet back on, then zipped up your coat. Porco craned his neck around to see your expression better, and you laughed lightly. “Are you checking to make sure I’m not crying?”  
  
He screwed his face. “Ah- no of course not.”

You pulled on your gloves. “I guess I just stopped. I don’t know. I’m stubborn, but I think you realized that a long time ago.”  
  
He smiled. “I guess so. You’re a bit of a pain in the ass too.”  
  
“I’m aware.”

“Therapy is… uh- well it’s good though,” Porco said, swiping one hand through his hair quickly. His cheeks were tinted, his gaze pointed at the ground. He didn’t know how to handle conversations like that, and it made you shake your head, a smile tugging at the corners of your lips.   
  
“I know. I’ll start it next month.”  
  
“No you won’t. Don’t bullshit to me.”  
  
“You’re right.” You pointed at him, then started towards the stairs. “I absolutely won’t. Who needs counselling when I’ve got you and Pieck?”  
  
You froze mid-step, your hand hovering over the wooden railing. Porco nearly bumped into you, and was about to curse out when he realized who was standing three steps down, lips parted with shock and curiosity. 

“Uh-” Eren started, frowning slightly. “You’re a little late.”  
  
You licked your lips, swallowing the lump that had begun to form in your throat. You forced yourself to keep moving down the stairs, and Eren had no choice but to follow. 

“Jean was looking for you,” he said, snowboard boots clomping down the last few stairs. “You just ran off.”  
  
“No duh,” you answered shortly. “Just drop it.”  
  
“Huh?”  
  
“I said drop it,” you snapped, stopping in your tracks. Eren stepped around you, tipping his head as he met your eyes.

“I don’t follow, sorry.”  
  
“Let’s just get through this shift,” you said, keeping your voice low. “And the one after that. Just until the end of next week, and then I’ll never have to see you ever again.”  
  
Eren stared at you, lips parting slightly as if he was about to speak, but instead he just nodded, blinking slowly. “Whatever you say, Y/N.”  
  
“Good.”  
  
“Do you go to counselling for me then?” He asked abruptly, barely giving you time to walk around him. As you attempted to step to the left, he moved in front, blocking your path. You snorted, darting to the right, but you cut you off there too. 

“You asshole,” you muttered, letting out a heavy sigh. “It doesn’t matter.”  
  
“It does matter.” He was smirking. Fucking smirking. You wanted to smack him. You were in a public place for god’s sake; could he not wait until you were at least out of the lodge before firing his questions?  
  
“Stop it,” you fired, pushing past him. “You’re being unprofessional.”  
  
“Am I?” He asked, his pace matching yours. “I just asked a question. Is it me?”  
  
“You don’t even care about the answer.” You grabbed your snowboard from the rack, not slowing for a second.   
  
“Maybe I do, maybe I don’t,” he said, shrugging as he picked up his own. “But I’m still curious. So, is it?”  
  
“No.”  
  
“Me and someone else, then?” He continued. Had he gotten more malicious over the course of an hour, or were you just starting to lose your mind?

You spun around, and he stopped. His goggles still sat atop his helmet, and those big fucking green-blue eyes were staring you down as if they could you on fire. You expected your voice to shake as you spoke, but for once the universe had decided to take pity on you.

“It’s nothing!” 

He was only silent long enough for you to turn and begin storming away. 

“Ah, you sonofabitch,” he mumbled, jogging after you. “I said that you were a bad liar.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ;)  
> how did we like that? i'm dropping some small things that may or may not hint at y/n's past, so stay tuned? as always, feedback is appreciated, and i love going through your comments!! love you forever xo - vee


	6. it's an awkward encounter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I thought you might’ve killed each other,” Armin said as he dipped his fries into a hefty helping of ketchup. “Glad to see you didn’t go that far.”
> 
> “One more minute and he would’ve been gone,” you assured. 
> 
> “She couldn’t hit me if she tried.” He paused. “Weak bitch.”
> 
> You leaned across the table. “Do you want to find out?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey gang, i'm back again.  
> i don't know if you saw, but i'm also writing a haikyuu fic atm, so updates for this might be a liiiiittttle slower. but don't worry, i'm not going to drop it. (i literally didn't proofread this chapter tho so beware)

**Two and a half years ago**

Connie was pretty much wasted before he walked through the door. Sasha wasn’t much help, and you couldn’t help but be slightly embarrassed as you stumbled up Marco’s front steps, both arms slung around your friends’ shoulders.  
  
“Hey?” You winced as he opened the door, expecting to receive a look of disapproval, but Marco just laughed, moving aside.  
  
“Hey man!” Connie chimed, leaning into you. “Y/N here is a great help.”  
  
“Are you drunk already?” Marco asked, trying to suppress his smile. “It’s only nine.”

You rolled your eyes as you kicked off your shoes. “You know how they are when they drink. They just can’t stop.”  
  
“And you’re being a good samaritan by helping them here?” 

You glanced up. Eren leaned against the wall by the stairs, arm folded across his chest. He tipped his head at Sasha, who pulled away from you to rush over to him.

“Are you high?” She asked, and his grin faltered. 

“Huh? No.”  
  
“Damn!” She exclaimed, turning around to beam at you. “We need to fix that. Connie?”  
  
“I’m on it,” the boy said, reaching into his pocket hastily. Your arm slid from his shoulder as you stepped away, inspecting him with confusion.

“I didn’t know they smoked,” Marco mumbled, frowning slightly as he watched the pair. Frankly, you hadn’t known that either. You had suspected it, and there were a few times that they had hit other people's pens or tried out a bong, but you didn't think that Connie actually had access to his own weed. It had been a while since you had partied with them though, so both you and Marco stood in silence, stunned as Connie fiddled with a plastic bag.   
  
“Don’t act so shocked,” Ymir said as she came down the stairs, shooting Eren a glare. “You’re best friends, aren’t you?”  
  
“Well yeah but-”  
  
“Then there’s no excuse,” Ymir interjected. “Get shitfaced.”  
  
“Ymir I’m not so sure-”  
  
She cut Marco off. “Right now.”

“Right now?” Eren repeated, a laugh falling from his lips. He crossed the room, and you caught a whiff of vodka as he leaned in, elbowing you roughly. “Are you going to get in on that fun, Y/N?”  
  
“You should!” Connie said, nodding vigorously as he made his way towards the kitchen.   
  
You hadn’t even taken in your surroundings, and it was only then that you realized how actually packed Marco’s house was. The guests weren’t limited to just the student council, and there were many faces that you didn’t recognize.   
  
“I thought you said it was going to be small,” you chuckled, and Marco shrugged.  
  
“I may have gone overboard.”  
  
“Really?” Sasha asked, her cheeks flushed from her excessive pregaming. “And it’s still early, right? More people will probably come.”  
  
Marco rubbed his neck, forehead creasing as he considered the thought. “I guess so.”  
  
“All the better,” Eren said, sliding a can across the countertop. Marco caught it, sighing slightly as he looked across the living room. A group played beer pong on the table, and someone was following along poorly to _ I’ve Seen Footage _ by Death Grips. 

“Interesting choice,” you noted.   
  
Connie swung around the side of the counter, waving a joint wildly in front of your face. You shrunk back, waving him away. 

“Gross!” You laughed, and he took a drag, passing it over to Sasha.   
  
“I thought you would’ve done it for sure,” he said, wiggling his brows. He had the same flushed expression as Sasha.   
  
“I’ve got these bad boys instead,” you replied, hoisting your bag up onto the island. From there, you pulled out two bottles of Smirnoff Ice and a four pack of hard lemonade.   
  
Eren frowned, leaning forward with his palms pressed against the counter. “No vodka?”  
  
“Are you dense? I said I wasn’t getting wasted.”  
  
He scoffed. “I’m pretty sure you never said that.”  
  
“I’m pretty sure I did.”  
  
“Marco.” Eren turned to the boy. “Did Y/N say they weren’t getting wasted?”  
  
Marco narrowed his eyes, holding his drink up to his lips. “I don’t know. I don’t think so.”  
  
“You’re meant to back me up here,” you muttered, and the freckled boy cringed, shrugging:  _ what can you do? _

Connie tried to offer you the joint once more, but you shook your head, laughing as you downed your first lemonade. You didn’t like smoking. Your family hated it, and you despised the smell. You wondered if that was why Connie and Sasha hadn’t said anything to you, but you tried not to let it bother you, because you were there to have fun. You were there to play pong and dance and drink.   
  
But two hours later Eren was still bothering you.  
  
“I didn’t even think you’d show up,” he said.   
  
You were sitting on the couch, mid-conversation with Daz. Eren had tapped your foot with his own, and when you looked up he frowned, brows knitting.

You returned his expression. “Huh?”  
  
“I know you like to follow the rules.”  
  
“What does partying have to do with following the rules?” You asked, giving him a look.   
  
He laughed coldly. The smell of vodka was stronger on him then. “Everything. You’ve always been stubborn.”  
  
“This is awkward,” Daz commented quietly, and you ran your tongue along your teeth, sucking in a breath before speaking again.  
  
“I haven’t always been stubborn.”  
  
“You have,” he argued, kicking your foot lightly once more. “And it’s made you sour.”  
  
You stood up quickly, tipping your head as you met his gaze.   
  
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He laughed bitterly. “You do.”  
  
“I don’t.”  
  
“Hey guys…” Daz stood up too, his fingers ghosting over your arm as he tried to get you to take a seat again. “Let’s-”  
  
“Have you been waiting to torment me all night?” You asked, gripping the neck of your Smirnoff tightly. 

“Maybe.” He shrugged, bloodshot eyes glaring at you in the dim light. “Maybe not. I don’t know, but I figured you’d be weaker when drunk. You’re a bad liar Y/N, I know when you’re upset.”  
  
Your chest tightened. You weren’t upset, no. Not sad, anyway. You could only feel the hot rage in your stomach, and the tinting of your cheeks as you scowled right back at him. You weren’t weak either, he just loved to pretend he had power over you.   
  
“You don’t know anything.”

**Present time.**

The two weeks had finished, and in the end it was only five days of training Eren. It was a good thing that he caught on quickly, because Levi gave him permission to start off on his own things three days earlier than expected. You rejoiced with Pieck and Porco, but then the draining aftermath settled in, and you weren’t even sure how you felt.  
  
Annie, Bertholdt and Reiner had gone to the city, and Pieck was working until three, so that left the apartment empty. Since Levi had cut back your shifts, you had more time by yourself. But that time was when your mind really began to run, and you weren’t sure if you could stand being alone. Of course you could’ve taken your board and gone up to the hill for a few hours, but you couldn’t ignore the aching in your joints from the long days, or the slow pulsing of the headache behind your right eye.   
  
So you were stuck on the couch, a blanket pulled up to your chin and a tea steaming on the coffee table in front of you. You didn’t like lazing around, and you knew that you were going to hit with a cold “I told you so” when you returned to work, but you had recognized that Levi was right long ago. Forcing yourself to take long hours was just easier than letting your mind run wild, and you felt the stress of your situation begin to take ahold of you as you drifted in and out of a light sleep, jolting awake at every little sound. You sprung up when your phone started ringing, the blanket flying off the couch and nearly landing on your mug.   
  
“Yes?” You answered, fumbling with the device.   
  
“Y/N,” Levi greeted from the other end. 

You tensed, pulling the phone away to check the time. 2:54pm. “I wasn’t meant to work today, right?”  
  
He snorted. “No, you weren’t.”  
  
“Thank god,” you mumbled, snatching the blanket up off the floor. “What’s up?”  
  
He was silent for a moment, and you stared at the flakes that had started to fall from the darkening sky. The snow would be good at the hill. Nice and soft.   
  
“I just wanted to talk about Eren,” he said quietly. “I was putting this off because I don’t like speaking ill about employees, but I know this is something serious.”  
  
You stiffened, your grip on the phone tightening. You had told Levi just about everything that Pieck and Annie knew, so there wasn’t much else to say, but you also recognized that the conversation was bound to happen. After the temper tantrum that you threw at the hill? Yeah. Long overdue.  
  
“Right,” you said slowly, pinching the phone between your shoulder and ear as you reached for your tea. It wasn’t even warm anymore, and you shuddered as you swallowed. 

“Start from the beginning.”  
  
“Uh-I don’t really know if-”  
  
“Start from the beginning,” he repeated.  
  
You sighed, leaning back against the armrest. The last time you spoke to him about Eren (before his arrival) was two years ago. You didn’t think that you were ever going to see him again, so you didn’t bother to bring him up.   
  
But things change.   
  
“We went to school together. He came here in like fifth grade or something, and we were sort of friends. I don’t know; acquaintances? Didn’t really love or hate each other. Uh, we…” You paused, biting the inside of your cheek. Levi had heard all of that information before. There was no reason for you to feel anxious. “We started disagreeing when we got to high school. Senior high; tenth grade. It got pretty bad--I guess we were just opposites.” 

_ Liar _ . You weren’t always different. 

“Opposites huh?” Levi repeated. “I remember you saying this before.”

“Mm,” you hummed, licking your lips before continuing. “I mean, you already know this, but he didn’t like Will. I still don’t know why, but he just had something against him.” Your mouth went dry at the mention of your brother, and you reached for your cold tea once more. Levi waited. “Every little thing that Will and I did, Eren just ruined. Seems like nothing’s changed there. He managed to ruin my job too.”  
  
Levi sighed. “You’re so negative.”  
  
“So are you.”  
  
“I’m not nearly as bad as you are. You’re rubbing off on me.”  
  
“You should fire me,” you said, and when he remained silent you felt a wave of panic wash through you. “I’m just kidding. Please don’t.”  
  
“I’ve told you this before, but I’ve been very tempted to on multiple occasions. Continue the story.”

You tucked the blanket around your feet just as the front door swung open, and a shivering Pieck stepped through.  
  
“Damn!” She cursed, stomping her boots against the mat. “It’s cold out there.”

“Pieck?” Levi asked, and you nodded before realizing he obviously couldn’t see you.

“Yeah. One second.” You covered the phone. “Hey Piecky.”  
  
“Hey,” she said, unwrapping her scarf. “I got off early today. The kid felt sick.”  
  
“I was wondering how you managed to drive back from the hill five minutes after your shift ended.”  
  
She laughed, hanging up her coat and gloves. “Magic. Who’s that on the phone?”  
  
“Levi,” you said, putting the device back up to your ear. He cleared his throat, but said nothing. You glanced back at Pieck as she made her way around the kitchen, and then you slipped off the couch, padding to your room. The door closed softly behind you and you sunk down on your bed.  
  
“Where was I?”  
  
“Opposites.”  
  
“Oh right.” You crossed your legs. “Yeah. Uh- it just got bad? He made the-” Again you stopped yourself. You didn’t like admitting it, even to Levi. “Then he started the rumour, so that was when everything really fell apart. He moved shortly after that though.” You paused. “Thankfully.”

“And you never thought you’d see him again, right?”  
  
“Right.”  
  
“Well lucky you, Y/N.”

You sighed. “Yeah. Lucky me.”

You didn’t talk to him for much longer, and you were grateful that he let you off without scolding you or rubbing it in your face that you were losing your fucking mind. Pieck didn’t say anything either. 

***

“Okay,” Jean said, letting out a heavy breath. He readjusted the grip on his poles, nodding to himself. “Okay okay. C’mon Jean, you’re the man. You got this.”  
  
“Don’t call yourself ‘the man’ ever again,” you said.  
  
“Agreed,” Porco whispered. “Even I wouldn’t do that.”  
  
“No, you definitely would,” you replied, looking over the edge of the drop. It was a lot higher than the one you had done a few weeks before, and definitely much steeper.   
  
“Come on!” Jean continued, shaking his head aggressively to work himself up.  
  
“He’s going to give himself whiplash,” Porco muttered.  
  
You snorted. “I think that’ll be the least of his injuries.” You raised your voice. “You’ve gotta just go for it! If you hesitate it’ll be more dangerous!”  
  
“I know that!” He snapped, shifting from ski to ski. “God. I’ve done it before!”  
  
“You’ve got this!” Armin yelled from the bottom of the drop. He had taken off his goggles and neck warmer, and he held up his phone, waiting for Jean to take the dive. Eren stood beside him, one foot clipped out of his board. You were disheartened to hear that he was going to be tagging along, but Jean had really taken a liking to him and Armin, so it was something that you couldn’t just walk away from. Jean was your friend too, and you had to at least try not to be a prick all the time. 

"What happened to 'no pussies at the hill'?" You asked, but Jean ignored the comment.

  
“If I break a bone,” he started, “will you finally sleep with me?”  
  
“Wait, me or Y/N?” 

You bit back your laughter as Jean looked back. He didn’t have to take off his goggles and mask for you to see the horrified expression on his face, and Porco immediately shrunk back, looking away.  
  
“It was just a joke, man.”  
  
Jean turned to you. “Y/N, if I die, kill him next.”  
  
“Sure thing.”  
  
“Maybe I’ll meet a nice girl in heaven,” he mumbled as he jabbed his poles into the snow. “Maybe she’ll like to ski and play video games.”   
  
With that, he launched himself over the edge, snow spraying over the side of the cliff as he sped down the slope. He caught a fair amount of air time, and you hooted, pumping one fist in the air. Eren and Armin did the same.   
  
“Fuck yeah!” Eren yelled, clapping loudly as Jean neared the bottom. The skier wobbled a few times, his body rocking side to side, but he managed to make it to the bottom unscathed.   
  
“Wow,” you breathed, giving him a thumbs up. “I can’t believe he actually did it.”  
  
“He can’t go around calling people pussy’s when he refused to hit that for months,” Porco muttered.  
  
“He nearly cracked a rib last time!” You defended. “Cut him some slack.”  
  
Porco scoffed. “It’s clear that you have favourites.”  
  
“Do I?”

“You’re next Y/N!” Armin yelled, still holding up his phone. The group had quieted down, and they all stared up at you, anticipating your next move. You hadn’t really planned to do the drop, but seeing Jean ski down so effortlessly made you crave the thrill.

“Will you do it?” You asked Porco, and he nodded.   
  
“I mean… I might as well try, right? Pieck’s never going to let me live it down if I don’t.”  
  
“True.”  
  
You slid forward, careful not to hover your board over any loose snow. Jean shouted a few words of encouragement, and you wiggled your fingers inside your gloves. There were a few trees on your right, and one boulder on your left, but right down the middle was a clear path. You would be fine. If Jean could do it then so could you.

You hopped over the side without giving yourself a chance to rethink your decision, and you were immediately met with the whizz of wind in your ears. Snow and ice pelted against your goggles as you sped down the slope, careful to steer clear of the trees. It was a lot steeper than you thought, but you bent your knees and kept your body low, balancing yourself out. As you neared the bottom Jean waved a pole in the air in congratulations.   
  
“Wicked,” he commented, lightly hitting the top of your helmet. “That was smooth.”  
  
“That was awesome!” Armin exclaimed, grinning down at his phone. “I got it all on video too.”  
  
You glanced over at the screen. The quality was pretty good. “Do you think you could send that to me later?”  
  
He looked up, giving you a smile. “Yeah for sure.”

“Do you hit this cliff a lot?” Eren asked, raising his goggles.  
  
“Yeah, every so often.”  
  
“Really?”  
  
“Is there a problem?”  
  
“You looked like an amatuer.” 

You exhaled sharply, your fingers rolling inside your gloves. Of course he would make a comment like that.   
  
“Did I really? That’s funny, because I didn’t see you up there trying it out.”  
  
He laughed coldly. “I was counting on you breaking your neck. I wanted to see it from down here.”  
  
“So I exceeded your expectations then.”  
  
He shot you a look, rolling his eyes. “No. No you didn’t. It was a fluke.”  
  
You clicked your tongue. “Whatever. You don’t want to admit that I’m actually better than you thought.”  
  
“You’re pretty good, Y/N,” Armin commented.  
  
“Your friend here knows his manners,” you said, gesturing to Armin. “Thank you.”

“No problem.”

“Manners don’t mean shit!” Jean said. 

“They don’t mean anything to you because you don’t  _ have _ them, Kirstein,” you stated and he slouched with dismay.   
  
You looked back up to where Porco stood, the tip of his snowboard hovering over the side of the cliff. He adjusted his goggles, then hopped over the side, following the path that you and Jean had made earlier. His ride down was even smoother than yours, and you clapped him on the back when he reached the bottom. 

“Wicked!” You exclaimed and Porco beamed as he pulled down his mask.   
  
“Better than yours,” he teased, and you slapped him yet again. “But that’s it for today. I’ve gotta eat.”  
  
“I’m starving!” Jean agreed. “I need a fat, greasy burger right now.”  
  
“When you say it like that I think I feel a little disgusted,” Porco mumbled as the five of you headed back towards the lodge. 

Jean skied ahead, and Eren followed closely behind him, laughing loudly as they exchanged words. You couldn’t lie, it annoyed the fuck out of you that Eren and Jean were getting along, but there was nothing you could do. As long as you still had Porco and Pieck, you were fine. You  _ would _ be fine. It was fine.

“How long have you been skiing?” You asked Armin. You had taken off your board to walk back to the lodge, but he still pushed himself with his poles slowly beside you.   
  
He shrugged. “I don’t know… since I was a kid.”  
  
“Oh yeah? That’s neat.” You glanced back to make sure you weren’t leaving Porco in the dust, but the man waved you forward. He was tweaking something on his board. “Have you always lived in Marley?”  
  
“Nope.” Armin laughed. “Funny story though. I always wanted to move to be closer to the resort, and it was pure coincidence that Eren was actually from here. I lived in the city, and obviously there weren’t any mountains, so the only place we could ski was a bunch of man made slopes.” He shrugged. “It wasn’t bad but it was really overpriced. Stupid money grabbers.”  
  
You nodded, adjusting the grip on your board. Up ahead, Jean attempted to jab his poke under Eren’s board, but the man swerved, laughing as he weaved in front of the skier.  
  
“How did you and Eren meet?” You asked quietly.   
  
“We worked together one summer. It was for a landscaping company.”  
  
“I thought he moved to the countryside.”  
  
“He did for a bit,” Armin replied. “But then he moved to the city for a few months. Do you know his brother Zeke? He lives there, so Eren stayed with him for a while.”  
  
That was news to you. Zeke was Eren’s half-brother, and they never grew up together, so you didn’t think that they were actually all that close. Eren rarely spoke about him, and when someone brought it up he changed the subject. You always thought they hated each other.  
  
“Huh,” you said, glancing up ahead. “I didn’t know that.”  
  
Armin sighed. “Yeah, he didn’t want to stay with him forever though. So we moved out here with our friend Mikasa. That’s that.”  
  
“That’s that,” you repeated, brows raising as you processed what Armin just said. You didn’t know why, but you expected that Eren had just lived with his mom in the boonies for all those years. It didn’t occur to you that he had actually gone and made a fresh start.   
  
“Does Mikasa snowboard often too?” You asked, diverting the conversation. You didn’t want to pry about Eren, especially when it seemed like Armin and him were quite close.  
  
“Yep.” Armin smiled. “She’s pretty good at it too. She acts like she isn’t, but I bet she could beat Eren in a competition any day.”  
  
“Wow,” you commented as you neared the lodge, shoving your board into one of the racks. “She seems cool.”  
  
Armin laughed, unclipping his skis and stacking his poles beside your board. “She is. She’s here today too.” He looked over at the Shiganshina chair. “I’m sure she’ll show up.”

“It’s nice that you two took your time,” Eren said as you stepped through the doors, pulling off your helmet.  
  
“We were gossiping,” you said, and Armin’s eyes widened.  
  
“Nothing bad,” he assured, holding up his hands.  
  
“I’m sure Y/N was quite nosy.”  
  
“Aye!” Jean called, waving his hands wildly. “I’ve got us a table!”  
  
“Fantastic,” Porco grumbled as he entered the lodge. “Now the whole ski hill knows we’re eating lunch.”  
  
“I’m not that loud!” Jean argued as you took a seat. Eren sank down across from you, and Armin to your right, forcing Jean and Porco side-by-side. Porco gave him a disapproving look. It had been almost three years of knowing them, and you still weren’t even sure if they actually disliked each other or if they were just doing poking fun. It was a mystery, but it was entertaining nonetheless.   
  
“Are you going to get your fat, greasy burger, Jean?” Armin asked, and the man’s face lit up.   
  
He rubbed his hands together, looking towards the cafeteria. “Absolutely.”

Jean then unzipped his coat and pulled off his gloves, and you did the same. The lineup wasn’t long, and you actually felt quite a bit like onion rings. The entire room smelled like tacos, and your stomach grumbled. 

“I’ll be right back,” Eren said, making his way through the crowd as he headed for the bathrooms. Jean pulled his wallet out of his pocket, peering over at the line. 

“I’ll stay with the stuff,” Armin said, but you waved him off.   
  
“No you go, I’ll stay.”  
  
“Don’t you want something?” He asked, grabbing his own wallet.  
  
“It’s alright, I’ll get Porky-Boy to get me something.” You dropped your head back to look at the man, who was stepping behind your chair. “Ain’t that right?”  
  
Porco rolled his eyes. “E-transfer me. I’m not going to buy you lunch again.”  
  
“Fine,” you replied, setting your phone on the table. “I’ll do it right now.”  
  
“Good. Onion rings?”  
  
“Yes please.”  
  
The rest of the group followed Porco to the cafeteria. You sent the money from your account, then opened Instagram, scrolling through your explore page mindlessly.    
Eren wandered back from the bathroom, and instead of grabbing his wallet and heading for the line, he sunk down in front of you, offering a look of disgust.  
  
“What’s the matter, do they not pay enough for you to buy your own fucking lunch?”  
  
“Har-har, very funny,” you answered, narrowing your eyes. “Porco is getting me something.”  
  
“Good for him,” Eren replied, pulling a plastic water bottle from his bag and screwing off the cap to take a long swig. He ran his fingers through his hair, then pulled it back into a low bun, his eyes scanning the room. 

“Have you fucked up anything yet?” You asked, and he looked back at you.

“Huh?”  
  
“With work. You’re alone now, right?”  
  
He nodded, fingers tapping against the tabletop. “It’s great; better now that you’re not around.”  
  
You snorted. “Of course.”

He was silent for a moment, and you both watched as Armin went up to the counter to pay.   
  
“I didn’t know you lived in the city,” you said, leaning back in your chair.   
  
“And? I didn’t know you were such a stick-in-the-mud.”  
  
“Shut the fuck up.”  
  
“You were the one that started the conversation,” he remarked, gesturing towards you. “That’s your own damn fault.”

You ignored his comment. “You didn’t like the countryside? Too boring for your manic habits and sex addiction?”  
  
He laughed bitterly. “Right, that’s exactly it.”   
  
You rolled your eyes. “Thought so. You’re easy to read.”  
  
“So it’s okay for you to know me well, but it’s not okay for me to know you?” He shook his head. “Classic Y/N. Stubborn to your core.”

Armin slid back down into his seat, cutting you off as you were about to fire back at Eren. It would’ve been rude to bicker in front of Armin, but the snowboarder in front of you was really pushing your buttons. You crossed your legs, then your arms, glaring across the table at him.   
  
“I thought you might’ve killed each other,” Armin said as he dipped his fries into a hefty helping of ketchup. “Glad to see you didn’t go that far.”  
  
“One more minute and he would’ve been gone,” you assured.   
  
“She couldn’t hit me if she tried.” He paused. “Weak bitch.”  
  
You leaned across the table. “Do you want to find out?” 

Armin grabbed your wrist, pulling you back down into your seat, and you scoffed, folding your arms once more.   
  
“No offence, but chill out,” he said, slowly chewing. 

“If you thought I was bad, you haven’t seen shit,” Eren said, shaking his head as he grinned over at you. “Y/N makes me wish I was never born.”  
  
“Classic!” Jean exclaimed as he took his seat back at the table. “I feel the exact same way.”  
  
“Very funny Jean.”  
  
“This is the only time I’ll ever agree with you,” Porco said, placing your onion rings in front of you as Jean tipped his head in appreciation. He was about to dig into his burger before he did a double take, eyes widening, and you glanced over your shoulder. Mikasa was unzipping her coat, and as she met your eye she nodded.   
  
“Hey!” Armin greeted with a smile.   
  
“Hi,” she replied quietly, looking around the group.  
  
“I wasn’t sure if you were going to ditch us or not,” Eren said, unwrapping a thin sheet of tinfoil to reveal a few slices of pizza. He offered one to Mikasa, but she waved him off, instead pulling up a chair from a nearby table.   
  
“Shiganshina was good today,” she stated. “The snowfall last night was nice.”  
  
“Find any good jumps?” Eren asked.  
  
“A few.”  
  
Jean cleared his throat. “There’s some really good ones on Stohess. Have you been there?”  
  
“He’s blushing,” Armin whispered, and you bit back your smile as you looked up at Jean. He was slightly flushed, a wide grin stretching across his face.  
  
“I have,” Mikasa replied, pulling out her gatorade bottle. “It’s the best hill for jumps, I believe.”  
  
“Damn right it is!” Jean agreed, nodding vigorously. “We should head up after.”  
  
Mikasa stared at him, and the table went quiet. You tried to bite back your laughter, but a chuckle slipped out, causing Armin to break down beside you, and then Porco.  
  
“Sure,” Mikasa finally said. “Do you work here? Eren just started.”  
  
“Yep,” Jean stated proudly. “Been here for almost four years. It’s great.”  
  
“If you work with the right people,” Eren muttered, and you slammed your boot into his shin. He winced, but didn’t meet your gaze.  
  
“Cool,” Mikasa replied. “I like it here.”  
  
“Aw Mikasa,” Armin said, pulling out his phone. “You’ve gotta see the drop they did today! It was super neat.”  
  
He placed the phone in front of her and she took it. You could hear shouting from the video, and you tipped your head to see the screen better. Porco probably looked the best, and then you and Jean were tied close for second. It was hard to see with all the snow flying up in the air, but you got the picture. Armin had a pretty steady head, so the filming was smooth.  
  
“Do you mind sending that over?” You asked as Mikasa passed the phone back.   
  
“Oh yeah,” Armin said, sliding the device in front of you so you could input your number.  
  
“Watch out Armin, she’s a spammer.”  
  
“What?” You gave him a look. “I am not.”  
  
“You would text me like fifty times when a paragraph would’ve been better.”  
  
You gritted your teeth as you punched in your number. “You never complained before.”  
  
“I’m complaining now.”  
  
“It doesn’t fucking work like that.”  
  
“I think it does. Are you going to tell me what I like and dislike?”  
  
You rolled your eyes, and Mikasa gave you a questioning look, her dark brows drawing together.  
  
“Here they go again,” Porco mumbled between chews.  
  
“It’s entertaining, actually,” Jean said quietly, but you still scowled at him. He pretended not to notice, then finished up his burger.   
  
“I wonder if you still have my contact,” Eren pondered, throwing his lunch back into his bag. “It wouldn’t surprise me.”  
  
“Like I cared about you after you left town? I deleted it years ago.”  
  
“That’s cold,” Jean commented.   
  
“Can we not do this right now?” Porco whispered, standing up to throw his napkins away. He rolled his eyes at you as he passed, then ran his fingers through his hair, sighing. “I don’t know how much more of this I can take.”  
  
“I’m sorry Y/N,” Armin started. “You seem like a really nice person, but please don’t do this.”  
  
You chuckled, but still shot Eren a foul look.   
  
“It’s just a game.” Eren shrugged. “Don’t worry.”  
  
“It’s just a what?” You asked, expression distorting. “A game?”  
  
“Yep. Now let’s get back out there.” He stood up, brushing you off entirely. “Armin, Mikasa?”

Eren pulled on his coat, and Armin hesitantly got to his feet, looking between the two of you. Porco did the same, and it appeared as if he had something to say, but he shook his head as you inquired. Mikasa put back the chair that she had taken out, and Jean’s eyes followed her every move. Of course. Jean had mentioned a couple weeks back that he was “single and ready to mingle”, so he probably made Mikasa his target from that moment onwards. Poor girl. That wasn’t going to be easy.

“Good chat, Y/N,” Eren said as he pulled his hair out of the bun, then yanked on his helmet. “Glad we could catch up.”  
  
“Likewise,” you said flatly, jaw clenching as he waved a quick goodbye before turning and strolling out of the cafeteria. How could the two of you just argue for the entirety of lunch and then have him leave like nothing happened? 

Motherfucker.

“I’ll see you around,” Mikasa said, and Jean’s face fell.   
  
“Yeah,” he said as she gave a small wave. “See you.”  
  
“Bye.” Armin almost appeared apologetic as he followed after Mikasa, and you sighed, turning back to the men in front of you. 

“I thought we were going to go together,” Jean mumbled, lips settling in a firm line. “Fuck.”  
  
“You’ll get her next time,” you said, leaning forward on your elbows. “Don’t worry.”  
  
“No he won’t.” Porco skewed his expression, nose wrinkling. “Don’t lie to him so openly.”  
  
“Hey!”  
  
“At least I’m upfront,” Porco said, shrugging and holding up his hands. “I mean, she’s a catch. And you’re… you.”  
  
Jean pursed his lips, huffing. “There’s nothing wrong with that.”  
  
You whistled, and Jean leaned across the table to smack the side of your head with his glove. Porco chuckled, smoothing back his hair once more. And as you sat there, waiting for Jean to finish up, you wondered exactly what Eren meant by ‘game’, and how he could so casually attack you, never recognizing the true problem of your past. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay, a lot of things going on.  
> so... y/n had eren's number for a while... hmmmm.   
> anyway. as always, feedback is appreciated, and i'm very thankful for all of you lovely readers!!!!


	7. do i know you?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Need this?” Eren asked, holding your board beneath one arm. 
> 
> You cocked your head. “As a matter of fact, yes I do.”
> 
> You went to reach for it, but he slid to the right, heading just out of your grasp. 
> 
> “You’ve taken a liking to Mikasa and Armin."
> 
> “They’re nice,” you said. “I’m shocked they actually spend time with you.”
> 
> “Is that so?”
> 
> “Yeah, of course. You know, because you’re so insufferable.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEYO!  
> i feel like people have kinda been waiting for this chapter??? we get a few explanations here, but not about everything!  
> tbh i have the general plot for this fic, but i don't actually have an outline so im sort of... making it up as i go? if things seem a little chaotic... that's probably why ;)

**Two and a half years ago.**

You had managed to escape to Marco’s basement, but Connie eventually found you and dragged you back upstairs, which wasn’t exactly a “safe” place for you. Eren had been on your back the entire party, and as the clock neared midnight and you became more and more intoxicated, you began to feel unsettled. Normally you were a fun drunk; Connie and Sasha had said that many times, but that night you felt your anxiety creeping in. You were uncomfortable with the crowd and the pulsing of the music. The screams and shouts of laughing teenagers suddenly became too noisy for you, and you winced every time someone bumped into you, weaving through the mass of bodies. You didn’t even know how many other guests had shown up, but it was way more than Marco intended. 

You sought refuge in the bathroom and had been there for nearly fifteen minutes despite the banging on the other side.  _ Drunk teens gotta pee.  _

You just needed a few moments to clear your head, that was all.

“Hey! Open up!” A gruff voice called from the hall, louder than the others. You groaned as the knock came again, silencing the rest of the complaining group. Of course.  
  
“What do you want, Eren?” You shouted back, pulling your knees to your chest as you leaned back against the side of the tub. The floor was cold, and you pulled the bath mat underneath you.

Eren tried the knob. “Let me- ah fuck.”  
  
“I asked what you wanted, dipshit.”

“Just let me in.” He pounded on the door. “C’mon.”  
  
You rolled your eyes, letting your head drop back. Your jaw felt fuzzy, as if someone was tickling you with a very small makeup brush, and you ran your fingers along the side of your face. 

“I’ll break the door down.”  
  
“Are you that desperate?”  
  
He sighed. “I wanna talk to you.”  
  
“Mock me, you mean?” You corrected, dropping your hands to your sides, pulling and twisting at the stringy material of the mat. It wasn’t very sanitary, but you weren’t sober enough to care.  
  
“You’re being a bitch.”  
  
“And you’re a dick. I don’t care.”  
  
“Why the hell are you so stubborn?” He snapped, slamming his fist against the door once more. “I thought you’d be begging for my attention.”  
  
You laughed. “What, because I miss you? Nice try.”  
  
He was silent. You wondered where the rest of the bathroom-waiters had gone. Eren probably scared them away; he could do things like that to people. You included. Damn motherfucker. He always got what he wanted, but then again, so did you. Your personalities clashed; one of the many reasons that things went to hell.  
  
“Open the fucking door.”  
  
“Ooo, are you angry?” You rolled a thread between the pads of your fingers. “That’s terrifying.”

Maybe it was just the alcohol, but the music seemed to become a million times louder, and suddenly your head was aching like it had never ached before. Eren wasn’t helping either, and each minute that he pounded on the door was pure pain.  
  
You got to your feet, reaching for the knob. You missed the first time, frowning as you tried a second, then a third. Were you worse than you thought? No, you told Connie and Sasha that you were going to take it easy. 

The door cracked open slowly, and you peeked a single eye through the slit. You half expected Eren to barrel into the bathroom kicking and screaming, but he was quiet, his hand raised as if he was going to knock yet again.  
  
“I didn’t actually think you’d do it,” he said harshly, dropping his arm.  
  
“You were being fucking annoying.”  
  
He frowned. “Right.”

“Right.”  
  
He studied you, narrowed eyes tinged red from the booze and the weed. He smelled like it too, but so did you. Your breath reeked of vodka; it was the only thing you could taste and you hated it with every bone in your body. You didn't even really like drinking, so why were you so intoxicated? 

“You have something important to say?” You asked slowly. “Or did you just wanna piss me off?”  
  
“Both,” he answered, stepping closer. “But now that I have your attention it’ll be a lot easier.”  
  
“A lot easier?”  
  
He didn’t hesitate. “I don’t miss you, but I want you.”

You tensed, your grip tightening on the door. Eren’s gaze was hard and piercing, yet he looked at you with curiosity, as if he was waiting for your response. And you didn’t have one. You stepped back and he took that as a sign to come inside, even though you clearly hadn’t invited him. But you didn’t protest as he closed the door behind you, tipping his head as he watched you sink back down against the bathtub.  
  
“What do you think of that, huh Y/N?”

You glared up at him. He crouched in front of you, forearms resting on his knees as he watched you with those fucking bloodshot eyes.  
  
“Where the hell did that come from?”  
  
He shrugged. “You’re drunk. You’re stupid when you’re drunk, so you probably won’t even remember this conversation.”  
  
“I’ll remember it, jackass. I've remembered a lot of things that you probably wish I had forgotten. Asshole. What the fuck?”  
  
You knew something was coming. He hadn’t been following you around all night just because he wanted to bother you. Well, he could’ve, but you could tell that there was something on his mind. You had known him for forever, after all, and it was paying off. 

“It’s been almost five months Eren, get over it.”

He raised a brow. “Five months already?” He whistled. “Time flies when you’re having fun.”  
  
You snorted at him. “I don’t care if you’ve been sleeping around. We’re over. Do whatever the hell you want.”  
  
“We never spent any time together anyway,” he continued, ignoring your comment. “You were always busy with someone else.”  
  
“Jealous, are you?”  
  
He chuckled, but his eyes showed no sign of humour. “That you were fucking your brother? Maybe.”

You let out a long, slow breath, dropping your head back once again. You almost wanted to laugh at him. Or hit him. One of the two, because that wasn’t the first time that he had said that to you, and you were tired of hearing it.  
  
“Just because you hate your own brother doesn’t give you the right to shit on mine,” you replied bluntly, the tickling in your jaw forcing you to focus on your pronunciation. It wasn’t like Eren could tell though; he was more gone than you.

He narrowed his eyes, standing back up. “Don’t you think it’s a little weird?”  
  
“Spending time with my family? Not really.” 

“Interesting,” he hummed, voice void of emotion. His expression told you that he wasn’t very impressed, but never once had you measured your value based on  _ his  _ opinion of you. 

“Jackass. You never made a good boyfriend anyway.”  
  
  


**Present time.**

It was Jean’s idea to drag Mikasa through the Stohess park. Apparently he thought that it was the perfect opportunity for him to show off all of the tricks that he had been working on, but just the mention of them made you burst into laughter.  
  
“You haven’t even landed any of them yet!” 

He gaped at you, his glove waving through the air as he attempted to smack you. “I have! Liar!”  
  
“I’m with Y/N on this one,” Porco said, shaking his head. “You’re going to make a fool out of yourself. Plus.”

“I am not,” Jean snapped, hastily picking up his poles as the three of you were scooped up onto the chair. Mikasa and Armin were already waiting at the top, and Eren was supposedly going to show up within the hour, although you very much wished that he wouldn’t. 

“Jean, maybe you should just stick with things you know,” you said slowly. “Remember what happened when you tried to show Reiner and Pieck?”  
  
“No,” he said quickly. “I don’t remember that at all. I’m sure it was badass though.”  
  
You and Porco exchanged a look. 

“I’m not sure if ‘badass’ is the right word for it,” Porco remarked. “More like… messy?”  
  
“A fail?” You added.  
  
Jean scoffed. “Haters. You guys aren’t gonna be saying this shit when I make it to the olympics.”  
  
“Keep dreaming,” Porco muttered. "Does Mikasa even know your name?"  
  
"I'll introduce myself," Jean snapped. "She'll see me on tv eventually anyway."  
  
"She won't," Porco stated.  
  
“But in case you somehow do, don’t forget to mention me a few times in your interviews,” you chimed, and Jean grunted something inaudible. 

As the three of you reached the top of the hill, you kept an eye out for Mikasa, who was sporting her red snowboard jacket. The visibility wasn’t all that nice, but she was easy to spot in the crowd.  
  
You waved, and she held up a hand in response, Armin sliding up beside her.

“Hey!” He shouted, holding up a pole.  
  
“Hey man,” Jean said.  
  
You could tell he was nervous. Ever since first seeing Mikasa in the lodge he had been non stop talking about her, and it got to the point where even Eren was beginning to get annoyed with him, and he offered to introduce the two more formally. Except now Eren was nowhere to be found, and Jean was pretty much shaking where he stood.  
  
“You met Jean last time, right?” You asked, and Mikasa nodded. 

“Sort of.” She paused, holding out a gloved hand. “Nice to meet you.” 

Jean took it eagerly. “Right back at you.”  
  
You exchanged a look with Armin, and Porco sighed.  
  
“Eren should be here any minute now,” Armin said. “Should we do a run while we wait?”  
  
“What about the park?” Jean asked. “I told you guys that Stohess has the best park.”  
  
You shrugged. “I’m good with whatever.”  
  
“Let’s see if Porco’s grooming skills really paid off,” Jean said, nudging the other man. “Shall we?”  
  
“Hey, Reiner does Stohess most of the time!”

Jean hummed. “Riiiight.”

You jumped forward on your board, following the path that Jean carved ahead of you. The snow had begun to fall heavier, and there had been a dump the night before, so riding was a bit trickier than normal, but it felt good to give your thighs a bit of a workout. It was just good to move; feel the weight of the snow and the whizzing of the wind.  
  
Weaving between trees and stray riders, the group of you eventually arrived at the park, and Jean skidded to a halt in front of the fence. Just as you were about to slide beside him, a heap of snow sprayed you from behind, blurring your already fuzzy vision.  
  
“Sooner than expected,” you commented, wiping the flakes off your goggles.  
  
Eren shrugged. “You know me. Worth the wait though.”

“Hey Eren,” Jean greeted, and both him and Armin held up a pole. Eren raised a hand, jumping slightly atop his board.  
  
“Let me guess,” he said, “we’re sharing our tricks?”  
  
“Jean wants to,” you replied, sliding a little closer to the skier. He was looking over at the park, seeming to be picking which feature to hit first. 

“Do the rail,” Porco suggested. “The double battleship.” He pointed at the rail, studying the design. Up, then flat along the middle, then a steep slope to glide off of at the end, then up once more, flat and down. It was a bit of a challenger, but Jean had done it before. Twice. Maybe three times.  
  
“Well,” Jean started, shifting on his skis. “The battleship is-”  
  
“Yeah,” Mikasa cut in. “That’s a cool one.”  
  
You bit back a laugh. There was no way he could turn that down now.  
  
“Oh! Yeah, you’re right. It’s totally wicked.”

“Uh huh,” Porco mumbled, bumping his shoulder with yours. “This is gonna be great.”

Jean nodded to himself, then looked back at the group--well, back at Mikasa. She was definitely watching, but he had to be sure, and he even went as far as giving her a thumbs up before he started through the park. You could tell that he had too much speed before he even hit the rail, and a shout left your lips just a little too late.    
He made it to the second flat part before his skis shot out from under him, flipping his body horizontal. Armin let out a yell as Jean slammed against the rail, then hit the snow. He starfished as he slid, one ski detaching from his boot.

“Oh my god,” Armin whispered. “Is he okay?”  
  
“Jean?” You called, unclipping your board. You were trying to hold back your laughter as best as you could. “Jean, are you alright?!”

“Whew, he took a beating,” Eren mumbled as you started running towards the skier, who was pushing himself up to a seated position.  
  
“Don’t come any closer,” he said quickly, scrambling to his feet as best as he could with a missing ski and no poles.  
  
“Why?” You asked, slowing your jog.  
  
He snatched up one of the poles, brushing snow off his dark jacket. “Because.”  
  
“Are you hurt?” Mikasa shouted from the entrance of the park.  
  
Jean scoffed. “Get back up there, I’m fine.”

You gritted your teeth, using everything in you to keep from bursting into laughter right then and there. You reached out towards the man, but he slapped your hand away, muttering a string of curses under his breath.  
  
“Jean…”  
  
“Don’t you dare laugh. It was the snow. There was snow on the rail.”  
  
You cracked, doubling over in front of him. “You flew! Like a fucking frisbee!”

He tried jabbing you with his pole, still continuing his swearing as he grabbed his other ski.  
  
“Stop that.”  
  
“Yard sale!” You cackled, gesturing to the gear that he had lost. “I can’t believe you did that!”  
  
From the top of the hill, you could hear the rest of the group beginning to laugh as well. You didn’t want to embarrass Jean, but you just couldn’t help it.  
  
“I hate you,” he said suddenly. “Shut up! Shut up.”  
  
You glanced over your shoulder. “At least Mikasa is laughing.”  
  
“She is?” Jean craned his neck to look up the hill, and sure enough Mikasa’s shoulders shook as she chuckled along with the rest.  
  
“Was that all part of your master plan?” Porco shouted as he glided down to where you and Jean stood. “You wiped out in order to sweep Mikasa off her feet?”  
  
“I don’t think she’s the only one being swept off her feet,” you mumbled, and Jean smacked you yet again.  
  
“You’ve just gotta keep moving,” Porco said as Jean clipped his boot back onto the ski. “Just hit the next one.”  
  
“I know that bro,” Jean replied, nodding mostly to himself. “I know that.”  
  
Just then, Mikasa and Armin slid up next to Jean, and he stiffened as Mikasa nudged him. 

“That looked painful,” she said quietly. “Are you sure you’re alright?”  
  
“I’d be a lot better if you did the next rail with me,” Jean said, tipping his head at the snowboarder. She looked away, and you wondered if she was going to shut him down right then and there, but instead she nodded. Maybe Jean was... actually making progress? He hadn't even been particularly bad with the ladies, but you wouldn't say that he was good at it either. Most times he made a fool out of himself before he even got to the first date.

So Mikasa was 50/50, because she had already seen him mess up and still decided to tag along.  
  
“Sure," she said.

“That was easy,” Armin whispered.  
  
Porco sighed as he watched the two head for the next feature. “He’s so fucking weird. I don't know how he's pulling this off."

“That’s coming from you,” you said, and he groaned.  
  
“Shut up Y/N.”  
  
With that, both him and Armin started down the hill once more. You watched them go, following Porco’s movements as he slid over a box effortlessly. Armin did a clean 180 off a jump, and you nodded to yourself before turning on your heel, heading to go grab your board.  
  
But you were shortly stopped.  
  
“Need this?” Eren asked, holding it beneath one arm.  
  
You cocked your head. “As a matter of fact, yes I do.”  
  
You went to reach for it, but he slid to the right, heading just out of your grasp.  
  
“You’ve taken a liking to Mikasa and Armin,” he said, slowly sliding down the hill on the heel side of his board. You had no choice but to jog up alongside him, grabbing at him every few steps.  
  
“They’re nice,” you said. “I’m shocked they actually spend time with you.”  
  
“Is that so?”  
  
“Yeah, of course. You know, because you’re so insufferable.”

He laughed, shifting your board to his other arm. You groaned, reaching for it once more, but he continued to move ahead.  
  
“I think the same way about you and those two.” He nodded up ahead. “They seem like reasonable dudes. You sure they don’t just want to get in your pants?”

You winced, jaw tightening as you lurched for the snowboard once more. Eren spun around, holding it behind him as he slid down the hill backwards. You cocked your head in irritation, and he shrugged.  
  
“I’m sure. And you know what? If they want to I probably would let them do it. Just another notch on the belt, right?” You raised your brows. He was silent. “Right, Eren?”

“Mmm,” he hummed. You could tell he was smirking by the stupid fucking tone in his voice. “Of course. Because I’m the one with self-control, and you’re the one with attachment issues.”  
  
“Me?” You repeated, gaping at him from behind your mask. “That’s cute. Who’s the one that moved back to town and applied to work at the same fucking place as their ex?” You held up a hand, not letting him cut in. “Oh that’s right, it’s you.”

He chuckled, slowing down and suddenly throwing your board back over to you. You caught it against your chest, the front knocking against your goggles. 

“Why the hell did you even pick Paradis Resort?” You asked, frowning at him even though he couldn’t see. “Of all the places.”  
  
“Why not?” He answered, digging the toe side of his board into the snow to stop himself entirely.  
  
“That doesn’t answer my question.”  
  
He shrugged again. “I don’t know. ‘Cause I could.”  
  
“You don’t even like snowboarding.”  
  
“Do you know that?”  
  
You sighed, strapping your bindings back up. “No _Eren_ , I don’t know that. Not for sure.”  
  
“Mmm.” He watched you, and when you straightened he cocked his head, as if inspecting you. “Why did you ever start working here?”  
  
You rolled your eyes. “You know the answer, dipshit.”  
  
“Because…?”  
  
“Because.”  
  
“Because…?”  
  
“Fuck off,” you snapped, hopping forward. “I’ve always liked boarding. Everyone in my family did. You ask so many fucking questions.”  
  
“Your answers suck,” he shouted as you sped through the rest of the park, trying to make it to the bottom fast enough to catch the next chair without him. And you could’ve sworn you were safe--nearly lucky enough to actually get a lift to yourself--but then he swung around next to you, cutting at least fifteen people in line.  
  
“Wh- get to the back!” You whisper-shouted, shoving him lightly. 

“But we’re riding together,” he answered, kicking some snow off his board. He pulled down his mask to grin at you, and you frowned, rocking back and forth as you waited for the lift to swing around. You considered hanging back and hoping that he would just catch the chair along, but you knew better than that. He wasn’t stupid. 

“You’ve gotten a lot more talkative since you moved,” you said as he lowered the metal bar. “It gives me a fucking headache.”  
  
You were seated on opposite ends of the chair--thank god--but he still managed to knock his board against yours, straining your ankle.  
  
“Everything gives you a fucking headache,” he mused, stretching his arms out along the back of the chair. His gloves tapped against the metal to some imaginary beat. “You’re too uptight.”  
  
“Oh really? I haven’t heard that one before.”

He shook his head. “You need to start paying more attention Y/N. I’ve always been talkative. And you? You’ve always been a loudmouth. It’s a match made in heaven.”  
  
“A loudmouth?” You repeated.  
  
Eren snorted, knocking his board against yours once more. “Like I said: pay more attention.” He paused. “Not only to me, but maybe to yourself too.”

“Huh?"  
  
“You can just be so clueless sometimes," he muttered. "And you mock me for asking questions? You should try it some time."  
  
"Are you calling me dense?" You asked, eyes slitting as he shrugged.   
  
"Yeah, I guess so."  
  
“Now you’re just pushing it. Do you want to get pushed off this fucking chair?”  
  
He sighed. “Yeah. Try it.”  
  
You scoffed, snapping your neck to turn away from him. You propped your elbow up against the restraint bar, leaning your chin against your palm.  
  
Eren started whistling. 

***

Even though you bought burgers and fries for lunch, you were still hungry at the end of the day, and luckily the cafeteria was open a little later than usual. 

You scrolled through Instagram mindlessly, chewing on one of your last onion rings. The cafeteria was mostly empty except for a few riders who were grabbing their bags. You liked it that way. It had been a long few hours of arguing with Eren, and then another forty-five minutes of lecturing Jean out of doing something stupid. Naturally Porco was urging him to try just about everything under the sun, but you eventually got through to the skier and saved him from a lifetime of embarrassment. The good news was that Mikasa hadn't ditched him yet, so there was still hope for the man.  
  
A piece of paper was dropped onto the table in front of you, and you looked up from your screen, stopping mid-bite.  
  
“What’s this?” You asked, setting your phone down.  
  
Levi crossed his arms. “Just look.”  
  
You flipped the paper over, and your eyes widened. It was a picture. A picture of you, Levi, Will and Erwin. You still had your purple helmet and jacket on, so you assumed the photo was taken more than five years ago. You got rid of that jacket when you turned fifteen.  
  
You ran your thumb over the photo, grazing it over Will’s smile. He must’ve been… what, nineteen? Eighteen? He was already working at Paradis Resort then, but he had known Levi and Erwin for many years before that.  
  
“Where’d you find this?” You asked, looking up at the man in front of you.  
  
“Desk drawer.”  
  
You wanted to ask why he had it, but you didn’t, mostly because you already knew the answer, but partially because you didn’t want to hear him say it out loud. 

“His birthday is coming up,” you said, sliding the photo back across the table. Levi didn’t touch it.  
  
“What day again?”  
  
“Twelfth of February.”  
  
He sighed. “A couple weeks away. You don’t want the photo?”  
  
“You keep it,” you said. “Frame it.”  
  
He hesitated, then picked it back up, folding it before carefully tucking it away in his pocket. The gentle action made your throat tighten. God, you really had to get a hold of your emotions.   
  
"Did you work today?" He asked.   
  
You shook your head. "Tomorrow though."  
  
He let out a long sigh, his eyes trained on something past your head.   
  
"And how has it been going?"  
  
"Better," you said, propping your elbows up on the table. You leaned into your palms, peering up at him. "I guess I needed the rest."  
  
"I told you so," Levi muttered. "You don't listen."  
  
"I know, I know," you said, rolling your eyes. "You've made that very clear."  
  
His lips pressed together firmly. You watched him for a brief moment before turning back to your onion rings. You offered him one, but he declined.   
  
"I should get back to it," he said tiredly. "I just wanted to show you that."

You smiled up at him. "Thanks Levi."

He gave you a curt nod before strolling back through the cafeteria, then up the steps to his office. He looked more exhausted than you remembered. 

You ate what was left of your onion rings, then threw the box away, brushing the crumbs off of your jacket. Eren was hovering by your seat as you headed back to the table, and you raised your brows with suspicion.  
  
“What do you want?” You asked, stepping around him to gather up your things.  
  
“What if I’m just paying you a friendly visit?”  
  
You gave him a look. “You’re not.”

He stuffed his hands into his pockets, rocking back on his heels. You pulled on a beanie then stuffed your gloves and neck warmer inside your backpack.  
  
  
“Can you take my shift on Saturday?” He asked, and you looked up at him with shock.  
  
“Me?”  
  
“No, the other Y/N.” He frowned at you.   
  
You snorted. “Why me? Ask Porco or someone.”  
  
“Because I know you’re a workaholic.”

“I am not.”  
  
He chuckled. “Once again, you’ve gotta pay attention more.”  
  
“Did you actually want me to take your shift or did you just come here to insult me?”  
  
He blinked, as if taken aback. You glared at him, zipping up your bag and slinging it over your shoulder.  
  
“I’m gonna go into the city with Armin.” He ran his fingers through his hair, pushing a few strands back off his forehead. “Can you do it?”  
  
“I don’t want to, so… no.”  
  
He scoffed, throwing his arms out. “Bullshit!”

“It’s not!” You pushed past him, one hand gripping the strap of your backpack while the other fiddled around in your pocket for your keys.  
  
Of course you wanted to take the shift. But from him? From Eren? No way in hell. Not after the day that the two of you had. 

“C’mon Y/N,” he whined, following behind you.  
  
“Are you seriously begging me?” You snapped, shaking your head at him. “You were being all bitchy like five minutes ago.”

“No I wasn’t. I’ll take your next one.”  
  
“Ask Porco.”  
  
“He’s working Saturday too.”  
  
“You don’t know that.”  
  
You pushed open one of the double glass doors, shivering as you stepped outside. Much to your dismay, Eren followed, lightly jogging to meet your pace.  
  
“Ask Reiner. Or Colt. Literally anyone else.”  
  
He ignored your comment. “This is such a weird fucking conversation. I thought you would’ve said yes for sure.”  
  
“Well you thought wrong.” You pulled out the keys to Pieck’s car. “I didn’t say yes. So… bye.”

“Look,” he said, halting beside you. He grabbed your arm, yanking you to face him, and you let out a sharp sigh.  
  
“ _ What _ ?”

“Armin and I have something planned. It’s a surprise, and I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t serious, because you know that I’m not all about supporting your weird addictions. Take the fucking shift.”  
  
You stared at him, not even sure what to unpack first. A surprise… was it Armin’s birthday? And what fucking weird addictions? You didn’t have any addictions. Did he mean work? If so, he couldn’t really have expected you to just say yes after so bluntly insulting you. 

“Um…” you pulled away from him. “No.”

He rolled his eyes. “I swear to God, I won’t fuck up your life ever again.”  
  
“Oh, how comforting,” you said dryly.   
  
“Please?”  
  
His behaviour was awfully suspicious. You knew that he was probably plotting something far worse, and it pissed you the fuck off. Why couldn’t he just leave you alone? You weren’t instigating anything, and yet he was still attacking you every chance he got. And then he wanted you to help him out and take his shift? Bullshit. As if. 

You stepped away from him, holding up your hands as if to say “oh well”. He frowned, burying his hands deeper in his pockets, and you gave him a look of mock pity. He didn’t say anything else, and even if he had, you wouldn’t have listened. Make him feel panicked for a little while.

“Figure it out, Eren,” you said, backing up. “I just really,  _ really _ don’t care.”

***

Pieck had made chicken noodle soup for dinner, much to your excitement. Annie even cracked a smile when she saw it, and Pieck told her that she was going to remember that until the day she died.  
  
“I feel like I might be coming down with a cold,” Pieck said, spooning up the last of her broth.  
  
“Is that why you made us soup?” Annie asked, diving into her second bowl.  
  
“I just felt like something warm, but that could be the reason.” She glanced out the window. “I think the weather is getting worse.”  
  
“It was shit today,” you remarked, shaking your head as you swiped at your mouth with a napkin. “The visibility sucked.”  
  
“And it’s January,” Annie said. “January and February always have the most dumps.”

Pieck sighed. “Lots of ski lessons coming up then.” She paused. “How was the hill? Other than the visibility, I mean.” 

You tipped your head side to side. “Alright. Good powder. I think Porco forgot about getting drinks with us, so that’s nice.”  
  
Pieck laughed. “It would be fun! But only once.”  
  
“Or never,” Annie mumbled. “Bars are always too crowded and smell like hot trash.”

"Annie, it was literally your idea," Pieck said, giggling.   
  
Annie frowned. "Was it?"  
  
"Yep." Pieck beamed. "And we're not forgetting. Right Y/N?"  
  
"Right," you agreed. "I actually don't mind bars when I'm in the mood."  
  
“Yeah.” Pieck nodded. “Maybe we can go this weekend. What time does your shift end?”  
  
You looked up at her. “Huh?”  
  
“I saw your Saturday shift on the schedule but I didn’t check the time.”  
  
You felt your stomach drop, and you swore that it made a sound as if physically hitting the floor. Your eyes remained on Pieck, and she continued to eat until she noticed your intense gaze. Annie stopped too, her spoon hovering over the bowl.

“What’s wrong?” She asked.  
  
You snatched up your phone from the kitchen counter, hastily scrolling through your homepage to find the little work app. You just couldn’t seem to get your fingers to work.  
  
“Y/N?” Pieck asked softly.  
  
You scanned the schedule, and your eyes widened as you saw your own name on the list with a little ‘10am-6:30pm’ underneath. On Saturday.  
  
“What the fuck?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well. there's that.


End file.
